Residents Consider Mitchell Street Dog Park

Members of the Central Roxborough Civic Association debated on Thursday about whether or not to turn a vacant lot located at 4117 Mitchell St. into a dog park.

The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority currently owns the 25,000 square feet property.

“In order to develop any land it first needs the councilman’s support,” said Bennur Koksuz who is the redevelopment authority’s Director of Strategic Initiatives.  “Whatever the proposal, it needs to be completed in a certain amount of time, or it reverts back to the redevelopment authority.”

Many residents at the meeting expressed an interest in a dog park, but Koksuz said that any park built there would fall to the citizens to maintain.

“Parks and recreation does not have the funds to take on more land,” Koksuz said.  “Someone has to cut the grass, shovel the snow and clean.”

Koksuz encouraged interested residents to form a committee and talk to the councilman.  From there, citizens would have to come up with a plan for who will own the park, who will pay for construction and who would maintain it.

Koksuz added that the land was valued at $400,000 two and a half years ago, but that the redevelopment authority would be willing to sell the land to the community at a nominal fee if a plan could be put in place.

“The RDA is not a profit making entity,” Koksuz said.  “If the dollars we would make is balanced out by something that’s good for the community, then the good balances out.”