The Sierra Club Miami Group does not support the siting of a dog park in Burnet Woods. This park has been designated by the National Audubon Society as an Important Birding Area (or IBA). It is an urban oasis, which is not only a year-round habitat for many birds, but a crucial stopover during both spring and fall migration within the Mississippi Flyway.
The building of a hardscape area in the northeast portion of the park will create a “heat island”. This, along with noise, will be detrimental to the hawk nesting area close by within the park. There will be a negative impact on the beautiful grove of mature trees that surround the small dale, where it would be located — a linden tree, burr oak, threatened beeches, willow oaks, pin oaks, black oak, endangered elm trees, sweet gums, sugar maples, catalpa, and chinkapin oaks.
The development will also generate runoff (dog urine and feces) into the lake and the underground stream and could have a detrimental effect on the many native plant species and wildflowers that grow in the park.
The proposal to place a dog park in Burnet Woods does not meet the Park Board’s own criteria for siting. There is no water source; there is a lack of ample parking and there are neighbors in close proximity.
Many neighbors oppose this development- residents across the street and those at the Parkside Condominium complex right next door. Others, neighborhood groups, such as: the Corryville Community Council, Clifton Heights/University Heights/Fairview Neighborhood Association (CUFNA), the Burnet Woods Park Advisory Council, Preserve Burnet Woods, UC Students for Burnet Woods, and the Cincinnati Wildflower Society all have come out against this siting.
In addition, other surrounding neighborhoods, such as CUF (Clifton Heights, University Heights, and Fairview) and Mount Auburn, have been promised a dog park and have areas that would be more suitable.
For these reasons, we ask the Park Board reject and abandon this plan to build a dog park in Burnet Woods.
