Southold OKs upgrades to Peconic dog park

After hundreds of petition signatures and at least a year of discussion, the Southold Town Board approved the expansion and renovation of an existing Peconic dog park.

The resolution, passed 6-0 at last week’s town board meeting, appropriated $10,500 for the project.

A group of residents has been petitioning the town for a new dog park, located elsewhere, but the town balked at the cost, estimated to be about $18,000. After a year of wrangling, a compromise was reached to expand the existing dog park in Peconic.

The park, behind the Southold Town Recreation Center, will be enlarged by a few acres, said Southold Supervisor Scott Russell.

“It’s making more with what we have,” Russell said.

Dawn Bennett and Asha Gallacher, owners of North Fork School for Dogs, were the driving force behind the petition drive. Bennett said the area will be planted with some shade trees, a gazebo or two, some benches and perhaps even a small agility course.

“We’re looking for donations,” Bennett said.

The dog park is not used much now, Bennett said, because it’s so barren and uninviting, and can accommodate only about eight dogs. “It’s more of a dog run than a dog park,” she said.

She is hoping the renovated park will change that, even if it’s not as big as the group originally intended the park to be.