Popular Pompano Dog Park Creating Stir By Proposing Entrance Fee
POMPANO BEACH (CBS4) - The wildly successful Pompano Beach Dog Park is a dream come true for one of the driving forces behind the creation.
Lisa Hamburg, a member of 'Dog Pack', the group that raises funds to support the park, said in season there are two thousand people and their dogs visiting the park, located at the corner of Federal Highway and 10th Street.
But Hamburg is now supporting a proposal to charge a fee to use the park which has two fenced areas for large and smaller dogs and is in the process of expanding.
"Animal control is having trouble enforcing the rules. There are incidents where there have been dog bites and the owners don't stay around. We need to have a some idea who is using the park so we can follow up," said Hamburg.
It costs $2000 a month for maintenance and water at the park, according to the city.
"The city manager's office has directed his staff to look into the possibility of a fee and how we might go about that and bring it back to the commission. Then the commission would make a decision at that point," said city spokeswoman Sandra King.
But a fee structure doesn't sit well with some dog park users.
"A fee upsets me. We have playgrounds for children and these are our children," said Kim Gold, who owns a Jack Russell named Stella.
"Anything that has to do with a fee is horrible. We pay taxes and our taxes are high enough," said Jonathan Smith who is Stella's co-owner.
Hamburg said at this point, she thinks a possible fee would be $30 dollars a year for residents and $60 dollars a year for non-residents.
A final decision rests with the Pompano Beach City Commission.
