Concern over the Proposed Dog Park

From: jniw
To: "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>
Sent: Wednesday, September 4, 2013 9:46 PM
Subject: North Asheville Dog Park

Dear Mayor and Council members,
   

We are writing to express our concern over the proposed dog park at the intersection of Beaverdam Rd. and Wild Cherry Rd.  Concerns about management of the park, funding, traffic and environment have been brought to your attention in detail by other residents and we share the concerns that have been expressed. We have a few additional thoughts as 32 year residents of Beaverdam Valley.
   

Beaverdam Road was originally intended to serve a rural community.  As the nature of the valley has changed the state and the city have done nothing to change the nature of the road that serves the community.  Residents drive a difficult road each day that we share with walkers and runners without the benefit of a sidewalk.  We also share this road with many cyclists without the benefit of a bike lane.   The section from Elk Mountain Scenic Hwy to Beaverdam Baptist Church is the most difficult to navigate due to tight and numerous curves that create a short sight distance throughout this stretch leaving little margin of error for cars entering and traveling on the road.
   

Concentrating additional traffic on this section of road will compound existing problems and further compromise the safe travel of this stretch of road by all current users.  The eventual construction of 130 homes by the Thoms estate will additionally challenge this specific stretch of road.  We would like to understand how traffic counting and safety assessment methods used by city staff account for all current uses of the road and sight distance problems.
   

Noise is a concern as sound travels throughout the valley in unexpected ways.  We would like to know how the sound of barking dogs will travel from this specific piece of property and how noise issues will be addressed.
 

Bears, coyotes, turkeys, fox, bobcats and other creatures share this neighborhood and are daily visitors because their natural habitat has been disturbed.  We have been able to identify 10 different bears that have frequented our yard this summer.  Over the years our neighborhood has integrated these different elements into our daily life and learned to positively deal with the challenges they present.  A dog park would add another burden to this already stressed area and make it harder to accommodate the wildlife population.  We would like to know how contact between our current wildlife population and patrons of the dog park will be handled.
 
The most beneficial use of this property by the neighborhood is the original plan by Ark Development to provide a greenway that will substitute for the sidewalk that would have fronted Beaverdam. This plan was developed because city staff thought a sidewalk along this part of Beaverdam Road would not be safe to use.  A greenway would provide those currently walking and running on Beaverdam (there are more than you think) a respite along the road and become another link in what might eventually become a walkable community. It would not incur the logistical and financial challenges a dog park would. We would like to know why this section of Beaverdam is not safe enough for people to use a sidewalk, but additional non-essential traffic makes sense.
  
Finally,we would like to hear a compelling argument that a dog park will be such an asset to North Asheville that sacrificing safety and quality of life for the current residents of our neighborhood (including our wildlife) will be worth it. 

  

Thank you for attention to this matter,
   

Eand J