Seger Park Dog Owners Association

From the New York Times...

By DAVID HOLMBERG

MONTCLAIR

ON a bitter cold morning this month at Brookdale Park here, a few dogs were having a playful time while their owners, shivering in a cluster, chatted about the future of the recently built dog park that is already the subject of a neighborhood dispute.

“They’ll sort it out,” one man said, referring to two growling dogs quarreling over a stick. But he could well have been talking about Essex County officials who are faced with tension between people who bring their dogs to the park and residents of the surrounding neighborhoods who have complained about the noise and parking problems they say the dog park has created.

The county spent $300,000 last November to build the 1.2-acre dog park within sprawling Brookdale Park, located mostly in Bloomfield, though the dog park itself is in Montclair. Now, the county is about to spend $50,000 more to alter the dog park in response to those who say that it is too noisy, especially in the early morning hours, and that it has drawn more cars to their already congested neighborhood.

The county executive, Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr., decided to build the park after he received a petition from dog owners asking him to create a site where their pets could romp. After receiving another petition, this one from residents saying that the park has been disruptive to their neighborhood, he has decided to make the changes.

Mr. DiVincenzo said in an interview that he did not anticipate either the popularity of the park, or the residents’ objections.

“We’re paying for the success of it,” he said. Since it opened, the park has been a destination for dog lovers in the area. But the dogs bark and the owners park, annoying the people living nearby. They say their neighborhood already has a parking problem, especially during the spring and summer months.

“The worst thing is the noise,” said Toni LeQuire-Schott, who lives near an entrance to Brookdale and with her husband, Newton B. Schott Jr., initiated the 70-signature second petition to Mr. DiVincenzo. More than 100 people signed the original position seeking a dog park.

Ms. Schott, who owns three dogs herself, said the dogs in the park barked loudly, sometimes as early as 6 a.m., and that their owners were noisy too, “screaming and yelling” at their animals.

Ms. Schott says that she has complained directly to some of the dog owners, and some have been apologetic, while others have argued with her. She and her husband live on Chester Road, which is a dead-end street that feeds into Brookdale and is near the dog park, in the larger park’s western section. Neighbors on Gordonhurst Avenue and Mount Vernon Avenue also complained about noise and parking problems.

Mr. DiVincenzo acknowledged that the dog park was built “a little too close to the people.”

At a recent Montclair Township Council meeting, he offered a plan to try to satisfy both sides.

He said the park would be re-designed, moving a section reserved for large dogs deeper into Brookdale Park, and away from homes. He said the county would also explore ways to reduce the noise, including the planting of trees as a buffer. The plan will take about two months to complete, he said.

The dog park, which is fenced, was open to users at any time, but will now be open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. through March 31. From April through October, it will be open until 8 p.m. During off hours, its gates will be locked.The county has also placed signs in strategic spots in an attempt to direct and restrict parking.

There are two other dog parks in the county, both of them built during Mr. DiVincenzo’s tenure.

One, at the South Mountain Reservation in West Orange, Millburn and Maplewood, opened in 2006; the other, in Watsessing Park in Bloomfield and East Orange, opened in 2004. It was at the dedication of the South Mountain Reservation dog park that dog owners approached Mr. DiVincenzo about building a dog park at Brookdale.

“Personally, I’d like to have a dog park in every county park,” said Mr. DiVincenzo, who does not own a dog.

Dog parks, he said, “bring people into the parks.”

Mr. DiVincenzo, who says he is a “parks person,” was assistant director of the county parks department in the 1980s. In his eight years as executive, the county has spent $125 million on renovating and upgrading the 17 parks and five reservations in the county.

The township of Montclair had little input in planning for the park. Joseph M. Hartnett, the township manager, and Councilman Gerald C. Tobin, whose ward includes part of the park, mildly criticized Mr. DiVincenzo for not anticipating the opposition.

“In retrospect, it could have been more thoroughly vetted,” Mr. Hartnett said, though he quickly added that Mr. DiVincenzo is “very responsive” to constituents.

“He usually jumps on issues,” Mr. Hartnett said.

Gerard Faugno, 51, of Glen Ridge, whose dog led the way into the park on that recent morning, agreed that some changes might be needed.

“Maybe they could have thought it out a little better,” Mr. Faugno said. “But you can’t make everybody happy.”