Downtown Phoenix dog owners are further away from getting a dog park after the Phoenix Board of Adjustment struck down an appeal to build a park near the Downtown campus.
The park would be constructed across the street from Taylor Place dorm where a Ramada Inn once stood.
Downtown Phoenix community members brought forth an appeal to overturn city plans to construct a parking lot in the space of the former Ramada Inn.
Board members shot down the appeal 3-1.
Community members want to build a dog park one half of the 2-acre lot, while keeping a parking lot on the other half.
The Board of Adjustment hears all appeals or decisions made by the zoning commission in Phoenix.
“I’m not surprised, but I’m very disappointed … it seemed to me the decision was made long before we walked in,” said urban blogger Taz Loomans, a community member who was at the meeting. “I feel like they’re making decisions without our input.”
The city’s plan for the parking lot will cost $500,000 and, according to community activist Sean Sweat, there are already 14,000 extra parking spaces in downtown Phoenix. On the other hand, downtown Phoenix doesn’t have a single dog park.
Additionally, adding more asphalt to downtown Phoenix will likely increase the “urban heat island effect.” This means that the city doesn’t cool off at night because the cement and asphalt still release heat through the night.
“In the end, the board didn’t care. They didn’t care about the facts,” Sweat said.
In response to the public reaction to the parking lot, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon set up an Ad Hoc Downtown Dog Park Citizens Committee at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
The purpose of this committee is to determine where a dog park should be built in downtown Phoenix.
The committee is not exclusive to downtown residents, and applications are due by 5 p.m. today.
Sweat said they will likely appeal Thursday’s decision to the Maricopa County Superior Court.
Reach the reporter at connor.radnovich@asu.edu
