County mulls off-leash dog park in Oceanport
Neighboring towns support establishing off-leash area
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

OCEANPORT- - At the urging of local dog owners, the Monmouth County Park System is considering creating an off-leash dog area on a county-owned tract in Oceanport.

Park system officials are conducting a study at the county-owned Wolf Hill.

Recreation Park is expected to be complete within the next six weeks, according to Joan Osgoodby, chairwoman of the Sea Bright Recreation Committee and an advocate for the off-leash area.

Osgoodby was joined by some 20 other supporters of the dog park from Oceanport, Sea Bright, Long Branch and West Long Branch, at the March 19 Board of Recreation Commissioners meeting.

"We wanted to show our support for the park," said Osgoodby last week.

"And they decided to put it out there and are doing the study, which I found to be a good sign," she said. "I strongly feel that this will improve our quality of life as a community."

According to Laura Kirkpatrick, public information officer with the park system, the Board of Recreation Commissioners will be preparing the study with park system staff.

"We are going to look at Wolf Hill Park and assess what is going on there," Kirkpatrick said in an interview last week.

"We will study the topography, future development at the park and determine how the creation of an off-leash dog area in Oceanport would be beneficial," she said.

Kirkpatrick said that some issues the park system will have to consider during the course of the study are: fencing, running a water line, parking and access points from the parking lot to the off-leash dog area.

"There is no cost estimation yet," she said. "They will have to look into that and other considerations."

The proposed site for the off-leash dog area designation is at the 91-acre Wolf Hill Recreation Park on the corner of Wolf Hill and Port-au-Peck avenues.

Osgoodby explained that local supporters are seeking to have a large fenced-in area with double gates, a garbage can for pet waste and benches at the site.

"The closest area like this that we have now is Thompson Park in Lincroft," which, she added, is a 40-minute drive for pet owners in the area.

To stay local, dog owners take their dogs to an unfenced field on a 30-acre tract of vacant land at East Main Street and Port-au-Peck Avenue, which is owned by Monmouth Park Racetrack, Osgoodby explained.

But construction began at that site last week for a 44-unit age-restricted development by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

Local officials, such as Sea Bright Mayor Jo-Ann Kalaka-Adams, Long Branch Recreation Director Carl Jennings and the recreation departments in Oceanport, West Long Branch and Eatontown have thrown their support behind the project.

"We are in support of the park," Jennings said last week.

"I have gotten a few phone calls from residents in Long Branch who wish they had a place they could bring their dogs. We would like to see this happen."

"There are countless people fighting for this," Osgoodby said. "I think everyone would like to see this happen. Many people have written letters or made phone calls to support this."

If the park system study concludes that a dog park will be established in Oceanport, it would be a county-funded project.

But Osgoodby said she would seek donations, such as fence companies to supply the fence and allow for advertisers to hang their business names on the fence.

Osgoodby added that if the county goes forward with the project, she would like to see input from the community as plans move forward.

"I would like to have a say on the design of it," she said, adding, "I would like to see the community become involved with the plans."

Although no estimates as to the cost of the project have been determined, Osgoodby said she does not think it will be a "terribly expensive" project.

"Right now, we are just hoping the county will approve it," Osgoodby said.