Dog park up for council vote Tuesday

Maricopa City Council members will have the final say Tuesday on whether a former residential lot across from the Estrella Gin property can be used for a dog park, although a request for a conditional-use permit for such a park in the Heritage District was denied last month by the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

A conditional-use permit is a zoning exception to existing land use.

The city purchased the property in the Heritage District to fix the drainage problem in the area, said city spokeswoman LaTricia Woods, and the city’s public works department is building a retention basin so nearby roads don’t flood when it rains.

Plans to create a dog park at the Rotary Park off Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway came to a halt last year when the Maricopa Dog Park Alliance withdrew its support for that location and council members voted to take half the $20,000 earmarked for capital improvements at the Rotary site and set it aside for a dog park at a different location.

As an alternative, city staff in February proposed building a dog park in the Heritage District at Lexington and Roosevelt avenues. The plan had the support of the alliance.