Since 2018, the Golden Off-Leash Dog Park Society (GOLDPS) has partnered with the Town of Golden to maintain the dog park on 12th Street South. This partnership involving the help of users in maintaining the facility was a condition of Council’s decision to provide this service. This spring, GOLDPS informed the Town that the society would be dissolving due to a lack of volunteer interest to help maintain the park.
At the June 21 Council meeting, staff presented information and options to Council for a decision on the future of the dog park. Due to staffing considerations involved with maintaining the dog park moving forward, Council made the decision to discontinue the service and directed staff to decommission the dog park.
In early 2023, Town staff will be reviewing and updating the Animal Control Bylaw. This work will include reviewing the current on-leash and off-leash dog areas in the community and provide an opportunity for members of the public to provide input and feedback.
History of the Dog Park:
The establishment of the dog park came with two conditions; there must be a society in place to assist in maintaining it, and the land (also known as the Old Town Works Yard) was identified as being an ideal location for residential development, at which time the park would be displaced.
For over a decade, various municipal Councils have viewed this land as banked for the purpose of developing a dense mixed neighbourhood of ownership, market rental and affordable housing and was identified as an opportunity for the Town to provide land for an affordable housing project as part of the Affordable Housing Strategy. Over the last year, the Town has been engaged with a consultant to complete an environmental analysis on the Old Town Works Yard to determine next steps to move development forward on this land in the future.