VERO BEACH — The grassy, riverfront area north of the ball fields near the Vero Beach Marina has been a bone of contention recently. One action that could have helped clear up the confusion of the space was denied by the Vero Beach City Council Tuesday. Another action was put off until later this month.
Local residents say the area surrounding the Bob Summers Ball Fields has been used by Central Beach residents as an off-leash dog exercise park for about 30 years, but it was technically still covered under the city’s ordinance that dogs must be on a leash in city parks.
In the past, dog owners had been cited for not having dogs on a leash in that portion of the property.
The Vero Beach City Council declined to follow the city’s Recreation Advisory Committee’s recommendation of designating the area next to the ball fields as Bob Summers Park because it would then make the property subject to the city’s charter.
Under the charter, the property would not easily be allowed to be leased or sold, according to City Attorney Wayne Coment, which could become a problem if the city were to want to allow marina commercial development on the site.
“I feel there are serious ramifications” to naming the property a park, Mayor Pilar Turner told her fellow council members.
Several members agreed and decided that not naming the property would allow the city to keep its options open in the future.
Councilman Dick Winger, however, voiced support for designating the property as a park and setting aside a specific area for the off-leash dog exercise area.
“I think we’re here to do what the public wants,” he said, explaining that the council has received petitions with more than 1,000 signatures in support of both the dog and park areas.
The ball fields were named after the late Bob Summers in 1967. According to documents in the city’s archive, Summers was a volunteer who was active in recreation activities and in the community’s baseball leagues. The resolution naming the fields after Summers’ “untimely death” praised the local resident as a man “who devoted so much of his time, effort and talent in this direction and who was so vitally interested in the activities of the youth in this community.”
The matter of the use of the park land became controversial earlier this year when rowing enthusiasts wanted to use part of the parcel to build a large, multi-story boathouse to attract sculling clubs from prestigious universities up north to train in Vero and to provide rowing opportunities for local youngsters.
On the map, the land was undesignated, but dog owners fought for what amounts to squatters’ rights to the use of the property.
At present, some of the land is marked on a map to be used as a storage place for storm debris. In the event of a hurricane, the city needs a site to dump branches and other debris as public works crews clean up roads and parks until the debris can be hauled away by garbage crews.
Recreation Director Rob Slezak, at a previous meeting about the issue, had said that the off-leash dog exercise area could not be fenced as is done in some cities because the city would need full access to the parcel if that emergency plan for storm debris was put into place and the fencing would get in the way.
The parking area around the ball fields in MacWilliams Park is also widely used for walking dogs and it was designated as an area where dogs are allowed, but in accordance with the city’s leash regulations.
As for dog access to the area outside the ball fields, the council agreed by consensus to have City Manager Jim O’Connor draft a resolution allowing the use with restrictions the city deems necessary.
That resolution is expected to be presented at the May 15 City Council meeting.
Online Editor Debbie Carson contributed to this report.