By Richard Caines

SALISBURY — County tourism officials are seeking public input for a proposed dog park that could open as soon as next year at the Wicomico County Welcome Center and Leonard’s Mill Pond Park in Delmar.

The off-leash dog park would be located on an approximately 1.2-acre site near the existing pavilion and softball field. Officials said the project’s goal is to provide an inviting and safe environment where pet owners, both residents and travelers, can gather to socialize and exercise their dogs. Additionally, it could promote tourism by driving more traffic into the visitor center.

Senior Tourism Specialist Laura Soper said during an April 3 public meeting that the county received an EDA grant for the project. She said they are at the beginning of the process with community input and research, but the park could open in April or May next year.

“We eyed this property because I think it’s a really great location off of Route 13 for community members,” Soper said. “It’s nearby, but also for those transient members that are traveling up and down Route 13 north and south.”

There is an existing fenced dog park in Salisbury with a separate small dog area, benches and agility equipment that opened in 2011, but officials said they believe the proposed dog park would be the only one on Route 13.

Soper and Director of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Steve Miller presented initial survey results at the April 3 meeting, where respondents were asked questions so officials to get input on the park’s design and construction.

The survey can be found online at https://www.wicomicotourism.org/blog/dog-park-survey.

“We’ve had around 300 responses already since March, so I feel that’s really good public input for the survey,” Soper said.

Soper said proposed amenities that survey takers felt are important include having pet waste bags and trash cans, drinking water for humans and dogs, some sort of shade component, separate areas for large and small dogs and a staging area for folks to leash and unleash their dogs.

Proposed amenities that weren’t as important to respondents, according to Soper, were dog agility features, benches, communal toys, parking close to the site, restrooms, landscaping and ADA access.

During the public input session, county resident Mikele Dahlen said that Leonard’s Mill Pond Park is a favorite of her family, and they use it for fishing, picnicking, exercising, walking the dog or playing football.

She wanted to know if there was a way to balance the proposed dog park with the existing park, so it doesn’t become unusable.

Miller said because they are still in the research phase, they have not decided exactly what the footprint of the area will be when it is finished. He said they are proposing to have space in between, so there will be room to play catch but not enough to have a full game.

“It would definitely change but as far as connecting one to the other, we do envision a connection between the park and the visitor’s center, because there is a public restroom at the visitor center and there is shade,” Miller said.

One proposed part of the proposed dog park that is still under consideration is whether to make it membership-based by including a usage fee or to make it free and open to the public. Some respondents were concerned about the vetting of dogs. Miller said they could require visitors to agree to a list of rules by signing a code of conduct policy like youth sports.

“One of the challenges with whatever that policy ends up being, is that even though the visitor center is close, we will not have people out there all the time watching, so if there are conflicts, it is a use-at-your-own-risk situation,” Miller said.

One key aspect of the proposed dog park for tourism officials is that it could help drive more traffic into the visitor center, thereby opening Wicomico County attractions to more people.

“We are trying to check off two boxes here, which provide an amenity for locals but also bring a little life into the visitor center,” Miller said.

Reach Managing Editor Richard Caines at rcaines@iniusa.org.