Dog Park Eyed For Consolata Property

The township is considering creating a dog park on part of the former Consolata Missionaries property on Route 27.

Township Manager Robert Vornlocker made the revelation at the November 26 Township Council meeting, in response to a suggestion from a resident.

David Triggs, a member of the township’s Open Space Advisory Committee, suggested that some space in Middlebush Park be set aside for the dog park. He had first broached the idea at the last open space meeting.

Triggs suggested that there were two areas at Middlebush that would be large enough to house a dog park.

Vornlocker said that the park had already been looked at for a dog park, and it was determined that the space wasn’t there.

“Actually, it’s not big enough,” Vornlocker said. “We’ve actually looked at it and it’s insufficient in size because of the need for rotation of fields, because obviously you can’t have the dogs on one field all the time, you need to rotate.”

However, Vornlocker said, there is space on the former Consolata property.

The township purchased the property in 2017 for $14 million. Part of the property is being eyed for a YMCA, while the Board of Education has swapped land with the township and now owns several buildings on the site.

It’s the land behind those buildings that could serve as a host for the dog park, Vornlocker said.

“In the back, behind the buildings where the Board of Education will occupy the space, there’s land that will be unutilized for any other purpose, including playing fields if the land is developed for that purpose, and there’s been discussions about it there,” he said. “I think it has minimal impact on residents because it would be tucked pretty far away, but it allows us to have enough space.”

“So, it is on the discussion topic among the (Township Council’s) Land Use Committee in the past, and will be as we continue to move forward,” Vornlocker said. “It’s a good idea.”

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