The township has decided to expand the current dog park at Laurel Acres Park rather than build a new park elsewhere in the township.
Mt. Laurel Township seems to have finally found a home for its new dog park — at the location of its current dog park at Laurel Acres Park.
For the past several months, the township has been rethinking its plans for a new dog park in an attempt to find a suitable location to build without disturbing nearby residents.
Until October, Mt. Laurel Council had originally planned to use a $75,000 grant from Burlington County to build a new dog park on a piece of township-owned open space land on Mt. Laurel Road, across from Chapel Hill Road.
However, council ultimately decided against that location due to concerns from nearby residents and a desire by a majority of councilmembers to explore opportunities at other locations.
Council discussed potential sites such as township-owned land across from the Mt. Laurel School District’s administration building on Mt. Laurel Road and a piece of land owned by the township on Marne Highway where the township might have been able to receive a grant to remediate arsenic levels in the soil.
Yet at council’s most recent meeting, council approved plans from director of municipal services Jerry Mascia to expand the existing dog park at Laurel Acres.
The existing park measures 600 linear feet and is split into two equal sections, with each designated specifically for small or large dogs.
With the expansion of the park, Mascia said plans would see the township replace fencing at the park and remove the divider, designating the entire area for small dogs only.
Mascia said the township would then add 600 feet of fencing, creating a new area for large dogs.
Once complete, Mascia said the two enclosures would be located next to one another with separate gates for each area.
According to Mascia, the township would also plant about 10 to 15 white pine trees between the dog park and the nearest baseball field to create a barrier. Mascia said the trees would already measure at a height of eight to 10 feet when purchased and would grow “relatively fast.”
“There’s already a dog park there, and everybody already knows Laurel Acres to have a dog park, so it’d just be expanding and making it nicer,” Mascia said.
Mascia said the grant money the township originally received for the location on Mt. Laurel Road could also still be used for the expansion of the Laurel Acres Park and would cover all expenses.
According to Mascia, the township would break ground on the expansion of the park sometime in the spring, as weather permits.
