By Coral Gables Gazette staff
The Coral Gables City Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to move forward with a community meeting focused on the design of a proposed dog park at 520 University Drive, across from the Coral Gables Library, giving residents both for and against the project a formal forum to voice their views.
The 4-0 vote (Commissioner Melissa Castro was absent) directs city staff to organize the meeting while making clear that the city is proceeding with plans to build the dog park. What remains open for discussion, commissioners emphasized, are design details and operational considerations, not whether the park will be built.
Gables Community Recreation Director Fred Couceyro told commissioners the meeting is expected to take place near the end of February at the War Memorial Youth Center. As is customary, the meeting will be scheduled in the evening to allow broader participation by residents who work during the day.
Mayor Vince Lago, who sponsored the resolution, said his goal is for the meeting to ease tensions around an issue that has divided neighbors. He stressed that the intent is constructive dialogue, not confrontation. “This is a community. We’re not here to fight and argue,” Lago said. “We’re here to find the best opportunity for that piece of property.”
Lynn Guarch-Pardo, a resident of Cadima Avenue and a representative of the University Green Neighbors Association, thanked the mayor for calling for the meeting, even as she reiterated the group’s opposition to the park. More than 100 nearby residents have signed a petition objecting to the project, she said, and that number continues to grow. Still, Guarch-Pardo said the association supports holding a meeting so residents can be heard and requested that it be properly noticed, held in the early evening, and include mailed notifications to property owners within 1,500 feet of the site.
The proposed park drew significant public attention earlier this month, when neighbors packed the Jan. 13 commission meeting after learning of the city’s plans. Opponents stood in contrast to a larger group of residents who previously signed a petition supporting the dog park, citing a citywide need for additional off-leash areas.
Commissioner Richard Lara echoed earlier statements that the dog park will move forward but said residents should not underestimate the influence they can have over its final form. “Don’t underestimate the power of the residents to influence ultimately what it looks like,” Lara said, adding that community input has shaped other city park projects in the past.
City Manager Peter Iglesias and Couceyro assured commissioners that the meeting will follow standard city procedures, including notifying area residents. Lago emphasized that these steps reflect routine practice, not special treatment. “I don’t want there to be any ambiguity,” he said, noting that the city is not being “extra transparent,” but rather doing what it does for all park projects.
Dog park approval came last year
The February meeting follows weeks of controversy after a November commission vote authorized staff to move ahead with developing the off-leash park on the city-owned parcel, which is already designated as park land. While some residents argued they lacked notice before that vote, city officials said public input typically occurs during the design phase.
Staff previously outlined a conceptual plan that includes separate areas for large and small dogs, preservation of mature trees, and a landscaped buffer between the park and nearby homes. City leaders have repeatedly said those concepts are a starting point, not a final design.
The debate comes as Coral Gables expands dog-friendly amenities elsewhere in the city. On Saturday, Jan. 31, the Chewy Bark Park is set to open along The Underline at 4500 Ponce de Leon Blvd., offering designated play areas, hydration and waste stations, and agility features for dogs. City officials note that the new park underscores growing demand for off-leash spaces, even as neighborhood-level concerns continue to shape how individual projects move forward. For the University Drive site, commissioners agreed that the next step is dialogue focused on design, mitigation, and how the park will operate within its surrounding neighborhood.
This Post Has 8 Comments
The Gazette is a welcomed and reliable resource for City proceedings and happenings. This article, however, was uncharacteristically incorrect. Item F-7 of the January 27, 2026 City Commission Meeting directed City Staff “to conduct a community meeting to obtain public input regarding the proposed dog park on the city-owned property located at 520 University Drive and provide a report back to the City Commission.” The matter of design was not listed on the agenda or back-up, nor was it referenced in the Staff presentation, mentioned in public comments, or raised in Commission discussion. In fact, the accompanying resolution included a clause that states “members of the public have expressed interest in providing additional input regarding the proposed use of the property” and Mayor Lago commented that the community meeting “would allow discussion on what residents want to see on that property.” Anyone wishing to view F-7 of the City Commission meeting can watch the replay of the Commission proceedings on the City’s website and scroll to 4:42:10 – 4:51:37. (Please note on YouTube the item actually begins at 5:46:14.)
I look forward to attending the meeting and hope the Gazette publishes a corrected version of their headline and article.
Bill Rivenbark
Member of the University Green Neighbors Association
and Dog Owner
Thank you for your response Mr. Rivenbark. Although you are correct that the word “design” is not listed in the language of resolution, we stand by the story as accurate. Admittedly, it is a very nuanced issue, but the resolution also doesn’t ask for input “whether” a proposed park should be built. Instead, it asks, as you correctly wrote, “obtain public input regarding the proposed dog park.” Commissioner Lara emphasized that the dog park is moving forward , and so did the mayor when he said, “So um the intent is to garner support, and when I what I mean by support, is not in favor or against the dog park, in support of what they would those individuals who come to the meeting who want to see on that piece of property.” We hope this clears up your concerns. Again, thank you for your comment.
More unnecessary grief from city hall.
Don’t forget the open, grassy area along Le Jeune Road and Granello Avenue, where many residents of the Gables-Ponce and Watermark apartments enjoy that space, just far enough from the omnipresent Metrorail effects.
That parcel should be preserved as park space, instead of just more concrete.
And…now that an unannounced crosswalk installation (resident input, who’s paying for it, ?) is underway in front of city hall’s favorite infestation, hopefully city leaders will be able to effect already existing traffic signals at the Merrick Park parking garage into a safe pedestrian crosswalk there twenty plus years later, you know, for residents and their families who actually live in the area across Le Jeune Road.
This Stalinist commission seems to believe their job is to antagonize the community and dictate to it what will be done regardless of community sentiment, while reflexively advocating for any and all zoning variances that benefi their real estate and development industry buddies. With the exception of Castro and sometimes Fernandez, it seems they’ve graduated Cum Laud from the Valdes-Fauli school of disdain and hate for those they’re supposed to represent. Congratulations to all you R imbeciles voted them in – you’ve contributed to destroying your own community.
Who are you to dictate what we need without surrounding residential approval. We live east if US1 so this park does not affect us. What affects us is Lago and the commissioners attitude that they will do what they want. Coral Gables residents pay high prices for their homes and high taxes. We have every right to say no to a barking, bacteria infected flea park. I would not want that near my hone, and 100 area residents do not either. I am totally sick of autocratic Lago and his 2 sidekicks. This dog park needs to be cancelled due to the high amount of resident pushback. All this for a dog park? You are hurting property values for a dog park? What is wrong with you people. YOU WORK FOR US. Please someone start a recall on these 3 know-it-all politicians
I would prefer green space than a dog park.
I live two blocks from site for over 10 years. There are many wildlife that live in those mature trees and bushes, like birds, feral cats, raccoons, opposums and even fox’s. They will destroy their natural habitat !! Do not knock down nature trees for a dog park.
We don’t need anymore dog parks please. We already have a problem with recent arrivals to the Gables walking around with their dogs unleashed and into retail spaces.
I love dogs, but there is a type of dog owner on the commission right now that loves pushing it into peoples’ faces how much they love dogs. I don’t want to go to Whole Foods and have to stand behind a canine at the hot bar. We need to stop being ridiculous.