Why We Oppose This Dog Park, Sample Letter to Council Members, Council, Staff & Ark Development email addresses

We have been working since June to stop a dog park from being established at Wild Cherry and Beaverdam.  There have been articles about our cause in the Citizen-Times, Mountain Xpress, and on WLOS TV 13.  We have accumulated articles, letters and links to media coverage. 

Here is a suggested letter to City Council and the Mayor.  We encourage you to copy and paste into your email service, and modify as you please.  We will change the text periodically to keep it up-to-date.  Note the AshevilleNCCouncil@ashevillenc.gov email address will send an email to all Council Members, including the Mayor.  (Staff email addresses are at the bottom of the page.)

AshevilleNCCouncil@ashevillenc.gov

I am writing in opposition to the establishment of a dog park at the corner of Wild Cherry Rd and Beaverdam Rd.  I am opposed for the following reasons:

• Risk of environmental damage.  Dog urine will kill trees, and could fill Beaver Lake with green algae and kill fish (as it has already done at the Azalea Park Dog Park).
• Too close to homes. Dog Parks can be noisy, unsightly and smelly. 
• Loss of visual buffer and wildlife habitat.  Trees, shrubs and undergrowth provide a buffer around the Thoms Estate Development.
• Endangers Killian house at 284 Beaverdam.  No one will want to buy a house with a busy road in front and a busy dog park right behind and beside.  The Killian house, built 1842, may be the oldest house in Buncombe County, and should be preserved.
• Traffic congestion.  Based upon Azalea Dog Park usage, this dog park would average a car every two minutes.
• Likelihood of poor maintenance.  150 Azalea Dog Park users signed a petition concerning their pets and children getting sick after using the dog park. This one promises to be no better.
• Diversion of funds to maintain.  The Friends of the North Asheville Dog Park were to pay for maintenance (5/14 Council Minutes).  Now, it seems, the City is responsible. Why is this project now taking precedence above other projects already scheduled?

Support for the above assertions and elaboration of their effects can be found at Responsible Asheville http://rasheville.blogspot.com/

Do not suppose that supporting this dog park will please dog owners.  A very small fraction of dog owners desire this dog park.  I understand they are well organized.  But your job is to represent all citizens.

Neither the City, the Friends of the North Asheville Dog Park, nor anyone else has notified all the residents in the area of the location of this proposed dog park. I have no doubt further notification will yield an overwhelming response in opposition to this dog park.  Please do not upend established City projects to force this unsuitable dog park on our community.

Name
Address (or at least neighborhood or street, if you wish to be considered a constituent) 

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Mayor and City Council email addresses:

The most effective means to get Council to respond is to flood them with letters.  Please let them know how you feel!

Either address email to   AshevilleNCCouncil@ashevillenc.gov   which automatically sends an email to each council member,

or use the list below:

mayorbellamy@avlcouncil.com (mayorbellamy@avlcouncil.com); emanheimer@vwlawfirm.com (emanheimer@vwlawfirm.com);cecil@braveulysses.com (cecil@braveulysses.com); jandavis@avlcouncil.com (jandavis@avlcouncil.com);marchunt@avlcouncil.com (marchunt@avlcouncil.com); chrispelly@avlcouncil.com (chrispelly@avlcouncil.com);gordonsmith@avlcouncil.com (gordonsmith@avlcouncil.com)


Here's email addresses for City staff involved in the proposed dog park.  Just copy and paste the entire block to your email app address area:

McCray Coates (mcoates@ashevillenc.gov); Shannon Tuch (stuch@ashevillenc.gov); Jeff Moore (jmoore@ashevillenc.gov); David Foster (dfoster@ashevillenc.gov); Al Kopf  (akopf@ashevillenc.gov); Debbie Ivester (divester@ashevillenc.gov); Roderick Simmons (rsimmons@ashevillenc.gov); Cathy Ball (cball@ashevillenc.gov); Gary Jackson (gjackson@ashevillenc.gov)

If your email client doesn't like the block above, here it is with the names removed:

(mcoates@ashevillenc.gov);  (stuch@ashevillenc.gov);  (jmoore@ashevillenc.gov);  (dfoster@ashevillenc.gov);   (akopf@ashevillenc.gov); (divester@ashevillenc.gov);  (rsimmons@ashevillenc.gov);  (cball@ashevillenc.gov);  (gjackson@ashevillenc.gov)

Here are their titles, although these seem to change frequently!

McCray Coates          Stormwater Services Manager

David Foster             Deputy Director, Public Works
Al Kopf                     Superintendent, Park Planning & Development

Jeff Moore                City Traffic Engineer

Shannon Tuch            Development Services Director
Debbie Ivester          Assistant Director, Parks and Recreation
Cathy Ball                 Assistant City Manager
Roderick Simmons     Director, Parks and Recreation 
Gary Jackson            City Manager
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ARK DEVELOPMENT email addresses:

Ronald Brittain/CEO : ceo@palmhill.com

Alex Brittain/CFO: cfo@palmhill.com

Larry Hollens/VP of Acquisitions : inquiries@palmhill.com

Kevin Reese/Director of Construction and Development : kevin.reese@arkdevelopment.com

Ron Butler/Sales and Real Estate: ronald.butler@arkdevelopment.com

General email address: info@arkdevelopment.com