Legal safe public access to recreational areas for dog-owning citizens is an important issue for numerous voters. Sixty-one percent of Seattle households own dogs. Magnuson Park is at a turning point. Currently, off-leash area users have a nine-acre area in the north end of the park which includes a .8 mile walk and 180' of lake shore access for swimming for dogs and their owners.
Park designers propose dramatic changes, including shifting the OLA to the south end of the park and limiting water access to an artificial pond instead of lake front access. Further, they propose altering the configuration of the long walk so that it does not go to the beach.
The Magnuson Park Off-Leash Advocates users groups favors allowing the Off-Leash area to remain in its current general location with its .8 mile walk, lake front access the inclusion of a ballfield-sized meadow for retrieval activities.
We feel that leaving the area where it is the most efficient use of taxpayer money; moves always entail more expense.
If the area is moved to the south end, however, we still need a contiguous nine acre area with a .8 mile walk that leads to the lake shore, just south of the boat launch and a ballfield-sized meadow.
Alec Fisken's answers: