"Speak now or forever hold your leash"

At long last, we are putting the finishing touches on a proposal for a dog park in Boston Common. This proposal addresses the concerns of both dog owners and non-owners alike, to carefully adapt America's oldest park to the needs of a 21st century Boston.

In preparing this proposal, we have carefully considered issues such as safety; size; location; proximity to pathways, residents and cars; effects to the grass and trees; aesthetics; lighting; hours; noise; odor and rubbish; cost and funding. All of these issues have been considered on behalf of both tourists to Boston Common as well as frequent (daily/weekly) residential visitors.

Our proposal includes one permanent, year-around, enclosed space near the tennis courts and baseball fields. This space is central to residents on all sides of the Common and also offers a partially enclosed area, thanks to fencing which is already in place. We would like to designate this area as a permanent dog recreation space immediately with the ultimate goal of enclosing it (with fencing and/or shrubbery) and adding ground cover specific to dog parks.

We are also proposing the designation of a second off-leash area, since the area we've proposed for a permanent space may not be large enough to handle the amount of dogs and dog owners that visit Boston Common during peak usage hours. This area would change location every six months to minimize the long-term impact to the ground cover. Areas to be used for this "rotating space" plan include:

1. a section of the Parade Grounds area (Area B on map) which was previously designated for off-leash dog recreation through early 2007
2. the currently designated off-leash area (Area C on map) near the State House
3. a third area (Area D on map) along Tremont Street

Since this second dog park location would shift every six months between three locations, the area will have twelve months of minimal dog activity. Areas under this "rotating space" plan would not be enclosed; signage and bag dispensers would be moved as the space shifts to a new location.

We are sharing this proposal with the Beacon Hill Civic Association, the Friends of the Public Gardens and the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. To succeed, our plan needs endorsement from each of these civic groups. We have also shared a copy of this proposal with City Councilors Michael Ross, William Linehan and Sal LaMattina.

Please review the proposal and share your comments below. Based on feedback from you, the neighborhood civic associations and our City Councilors, we will finalize this proposal over the next two weeks before submitting it to Boston's Parks Department by year-end.

EDIT: The attached proposal was submitted to Toni Pollack, Commissioner of Boston's Parks Dept. on December 31st, 2008.