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A dog park is on its way to Library Square Park [pictured above] this fall, and some residents are not happy about it.

A resolution establishing a dog park pilot program was approved at the June 6 meeting. For that story, click here. Unlike ordinances, there are no public hearings before resolutions, so the public was unable to address the council before the vote.

In addition, the resolution was added to the agenda at the last minute, after the meeting agenda had been posted on the city’s website. When the council later discussed the resolution before voting, some residents called out from the audience but Mayor Ed Johnson told them to quiet down.

At last night’s council meeting, though, residents who oppose the park made themselves heard.

“Library Square Park is a main entrance to the city and it needs to be kept as a park,” John McCarthy said. “It’s not a playground for a small group of people.”

McCarthy said there was no notification given to area residents that the plan was under consideration. He suggested the city install the dog park either on a difference piece of public land or on developer-owned land on a temporary basis.

His wife, Bess McCarthy, spoke next. She said that according to county records, the park’s deed says it’s for the public.

“Dogs are not the public,” she said.

Also, she said the deed says “there are not to be any buildings, any booths or anything built on these lands.

“Why in the world would you think that the city residents and taxpayers have to take care of your pets?” she said. “That’s your pet. If you don’t have any space for it, don’t have a pet.”

She also said the city should have notified residents of that area of the plan.

“You want to change a lightbulb in this town, you have to jump through hoops. But you people get to do whatever you want,” she said.

Later in the public comment session, others spoke out in favor of the park.

Rachel Hirschfeld, a member of the dog park committee who presented the plan to the council at the June 6 meeting, thanked the council for passing the resolution “in a timely fashion.” The committee has planned a number of events, she said, including a dog film festival and another event called Bangs Avenue Goes to the Dogs.

At this point, Mrs. McCarthy stood up and walked out of the meeting, saying, “Grow up. This town is never coming back.”

Debbie DeLisa, owner of the Wonder Bar on Ocean Avenue, spoke next, saying the park is not suitable for families or children.

“It’s full of junkies, prostitutes, drug dealers and everything else,” she said.

DeLisa hosts Yappy Hour at her bar, inviting people to bring their dogs to the establishment. Yappy Hour has drawn people from Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia, she said.

“They’re all so happy to see how animal-friendly Asbury Park is,” she said. “We draw more and more people from the tri-state area.”

Rita Marano spoke next, asking the council about the ordinance governing the installation of fences in the city. That ordinance states a homeowner can only erect a fence on the side of their house and not in the front, she said.

The dog park would have five-foot fences fronting on Heck Street.

That ordinance only applies to fences around structures, Deputy Mayor John Loffredo said.

“There are a lot of people that live around that park and there are three churches,” Marano said. “They should be considered.”

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