Improve Dog Off-Leash Areas

Fall 2023

One of the Seattle Park District Maintaining Parks and Facilities funding initiatives is to Improve Dog Off-Leash Areas (OLAs). This initiative will improve existing OLAs through maintenance and updates to aging infrastructure. There is a list of all 14 OLAs on the Dog Off Leash Areas webpage.

Seattle Parks And Recreation (SPR) has been maintaining monthly meetings with COLA and MOLG for continuous open conversation with the community. The team has begun planning for potential projects in 2024.

Priority 2023 OLA Projects

• Regrade Park OLA - partial fence and gates replacement - complete
• Jose Rizal Park OLA - gate replacement - complete
• Magnuson Park OLA - parking lot south and north gate replacement - completed in early 2023
• Magnuson Park OLA - parking lot ADA improvements - in the design phase
• Denny Park OLA - entry gate ADA improvements - complete
• Westcrest Park OLA - gravel surface replacement - SPR staff is performing site evaluation after an initial surfacing adjustment and will continue to make changes as necessary to address surfacing issues
• I-5 Colonnade OLA – gate replacement - complete

In Progress Project Updates

• Blue Pond Dog Park - major maintenance plans are still on hold. The project will be in collaboration with SPU’s plans to improve the retention pond area of the park.
• Magnuson Dog Park - agility equipment is on hold. Gate replacements, both north and south are completed. The center one is still in design.

Older Completed Projects

• Genesee Dog Park - agility course is completed.
• Woodland Dog Park - fence line renovation and gravel restoration was complete as of July 2022.
• Regrade Dog Park completed its major maintenance project December 2021 - pathway, excavation, 25yds of new gravel, removed unsightly fencing and moved the storage shed to a more useful location.
• Recent Major Maintenance OLA projects are all completed at I-5 Colonnade, Kinnear, Magnolia Manor, and North Acres.

In 2016, with community input, we developed the People, Dogs, and Parks Plan to guide the improvements. Since then we have:

• Made grading improvements by filling holes created by dogs and fanning out extra gravel into the park plus additional facility improvements at Magnolia Manor OLA
• Knocked down overgrown blackberries and thistle growth at Dr. Jose Rizal Dog Park and added self-closing gate access points throughout the park
• Scraped and added additional gravel at I-5 Colonnade Dog Park to minimize build up high spots (the program doesn't have sufficient funding to support adding new lights to this site)
• Cleared blackberries and thistles overgrowth at Blue Dog Pond OLA 
• Built a new fence around the 8.6-acre Magnuson Park OLA
• Installed a small and shy dog area along with other improvements at Genesee Park
• Installed a small and shy dog area at Woodland Park along with additional improvements
• Installed an 18" block wall inside the fence along Bell Street at Regrade Park, to prevent gravel from the OLA from migrating onto the Bell Street sidewalk
• Installed a new pedestrian access gate and new vehicle access gates at Northacres Park OLA, and replaced damaged and deteriorating fencing
• Resurfaced the existing gravel path and installed new benches at the Dr. Jose Rizal Park OLA
• Installed dog agility equipment and fence repairs at Golden Gardens OLA

We are planning a list of improvements at other OLAs around the city and will post the scope and schedule of these improvements as they develop.