New Dog Park Has Neighbors Barking - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

A place to keep your dog fit or a community eye sore? A new dog park has a Fargo neighborhood locked digging up a debate. The park would be located between 7th and 9th Avenue South near the downtown area.

Neighbors say there are a lot of issues that the Parks and Rec Department did not think about before they started this project. Also, they failed to tell people in the area that this was going to happening. And now the neighborhood is trying to stop it.

Mark Bosserman of Fargo says, "I am totally against the whole concept and I think it's the wrong thing to do in the wrong place."

It's a construction project that's got a neighborhood in protest.

Steve Tweed of Fargo says, "I moved here for this part of this park. Now, you have a visual abomination that's about to happen."

But they're not barking about the noise. A dog park is being put in and they say it's a bad idea.

Bosserman says, "I don't want to sit here and watch dogs take a dump back and forth."

Another concern is parking. The closest spot is a bout a half a mile north of here. And with a lot of dead ends in the area, it's already an issue for the neighborhood.

Director of Parks, Dave Leker, "We're willing to work with them. and the city of Fargo. If we need to get some no parking signs out there and have the police monitor that and write tickets."

Leker says when they were considering the location for a new dog park, this spot in Dike East was the best because of its size and accessibility to people downtown.

Leker says, "We've had a few good comments from people in support. We haven't had any negative comments." He adds word was put out through the media, but for those who don't follow the news it was a shock. And now the negatives are coming out.

Bosserman says, "It was an open park, it should stay that way."

"It's selfish to say, well, I want the park just for me. No, I want it for everybody. But we'll have the eye sore of a big fence and we'll see how ugly it will be. When it gets up, it'll be ugly," says Tweed.

Once construction is done in a week, the dog park is going to be open on a year to year basis. That means if more problems come up or more people become upset with it. There is a possibility of shutting it down.

Some of the people in the neighborhood have dogs and say they're against it being so close to their house. However, we talked to a few people walking their dog along the path, and they said they're excited for another place they can bring their dogs.