Dog Park Redesign - Add Your Voice!

Arlington County is currently engaged in a redesign of the park space at 13^th and Herndon Streets (currently the Clarendon Dog Park and the empty corner). The County’s Clarendon Sector Plan provides the requirement to redesign the park space to accommodate both the dog park and other public activities.

Proposed Master Design Unveiled

Clarendon Dogs representatives and other dog park users attended the unveiling of the county’s Preliminary Master Plan for the redesign of the on September 25, 2007. Members of the Arlington County Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources (PRCR) design staff presented the proposed master design for the park’s future state. Residents from Lyon Village neighborhood and the Hartford Condominium also attended the meeting.

Clarendon Dogs Thoughts on the Design

Overall, Clarendon Dogs was very impressed with the proposed design, which incorporates natural features of the lot, preserves the length of the dog park (which Arlington County refers to as a Canine Community Area or CCA), and provides for green space and demonstration gardens. Under this design, the dog park would encompass 50.3% of the entire lot (which would include the currently unused corner). Clarendon Dogs was also pleased the design included a terraced plaza with water feature, proposed for outside of the dog park area. A water source would be included inside the dog park for hydration purposes.

Utilizing the natural grade (slope) of the current lot, Arlington County is proposing to gradually recess, following the natural grade of the land, the dog park area from planned entrances on the 13^th street side towards the Hartford condo building. To accommodate the plaza terrace, the graded dog park would have a retaining wall, with the fence built on top. People on the plaza would look out and over the dog park from their elevated position. The recess would likely be between 3 to 6 feet, and during the design process, appropriate measures would be taken to accommodate for drainage.

Sound mitigation measures were also taken into consideration in accordance with the concerns of Hartford condo and Lyon Village neighbors, as well as the acoustic evaluation the county had completed on the park. Sound mitigation may include clear sound barriers or walls, soft surfacing for the dog park, and utilizing native plant life to limit possible visual stimulation of dogs from people/dogs outside the dog park.

Add Your Voice - Comment on the Design!

Please let the county know you support the design! Please review the plan and submit your comments.