Proposal for Port Chester Dog Park Looks at Abendroth Park

The Port Chester village Board of Trustees is slated tonight to hear additional details of a proposal that would create a dog park in the village where pet owners can excercise their dogs off-leash.

The proposal by a group of Port Chester dog owners who organized through Facebook is calling for the dog park to be created within Port Chester's Abendroth Park. The project, which the dog owners say they want to move forward with at no cost to the village, has been supported by the Port Chester Park Commission.

"The Parks Commission approved the location with square footage and layout to be determined at a future date and pending Board of Trustee approval," said Park Commission chairman Jerry Terranova in a March 25 letter to the Board of Trustees.

Port Chester resident Dina Goren, who has been a spokesman for the Port Chester dog park proponents at village meetings, met with Port Chester village recreation officials and the Park Commission. Their discussions led to the latest proposal, which calls for a dog park in the upper portion of Abendroth Park.

The village Board of Trustees is set to meet at 7 p.m. in the Village Court, 350 N. Main St., Port Chester. During informal discussions at village meetings, Board of Trustees members have been supportive of the dog park proposal, although no formal approval has been given.

The issue of the dog park even became a hot topic of discussion among voters in the March 19 village elections, in which the mayor was selected and all six trustee seats were filled.

Members of the dog park group say their want to create the fenced-in area for dogs at a village park, but they want the project to be done without cost to the village and its taxpayers. Members of the group contend that with a specific site selected for the park, the can move forward with efforts to seek grants and other funds to pay for the park.

Currently, Port Chester does not have an area where dogs and run off-leash.