By Coral Gables Gazette staff

Since the Coral Gables City Commission voted 3–0 on November 18 to move forward with plans for a dog park across from the Coral Gables Library – on a triangular block along University Drive between Riviera Drive and Cadima Avenue – residents living closest to the site have emerged in opposition. Many say they were shocked to learn the city was advancing the project despite their past objections and equally surprised that no meeting or notice was provided before the vote.

Vice mayor responds to neighbors and opposition

Several neighbors emailed or called commissioners in the days that followed, with Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson – the sponsor of the item and the driving force behind recent dog-park efforts in the city – responding to all of them, she said. Anderson has already met with some residents in person and says she intends to listen carefully to concerns, just as she has with earlier dog parks near Salvador Park and Phillips Park, where she says resident feedback directly shaped the final design.

“I’ve always made it a point to sit with neighbors, walk the site with them, and adjust the design so that it works for the people who live there,” Anderson said, describing past compromises such as adjusting fencing, adding native hedges for noise buffering, creating double-gate entries, and shifting sidewalks to increase privacy. For this proposal, Anderson said she has shown neighbors early design drafts that include a five-foot planted buffer, a concealed interior fence line, heavy shade, small-dog and large-dog areas, and native landscaping intended to shield nearby homes.

“A five-foot planted hedge is substantial. This is not an obvious (dog park) for people driving by, they are not going to see the fence and field,” Anderson explained. “(Nearby residents) will actually have more privacy, and this is a public need.”

Nearby residents remain concerned about transparency and details

But despite Anderson’s assurances, some residents remain unconvinced – not only about the city’s intentions but about whether a dog park belongs at the location at all.

Dr. Sara Cortes, who lives directly south of the proposed site, said she was blindsided by the commission’s vote. “I’ve been against this from the beginning,” she said. “The park would be in direct line of sight from my patio. I work late evening shifts; the hours when dogs would be in the park are the times I sleep. You can’t imagine how disruptive that would be.”

Cortes said Anderson did respond to her email, but the suggestions offered – such as parking restrictions – did little to address her quality-of-life concerns. “I appreciate that (the vice mayor) is reaching out to people – she said we can put up parking signs as a way to assuage my fears but I still think it is tone deaf on her part,” Cortes said. “Neighbors are concerned about parking, traffic, and safety issues, those are our major concerns.”

Cortes recalls the vice mayor knocking on her door in 2024 to discuss the concept as a private resident. “She told us then that if the neighbors didn’t support it, it wouldn’t go forward,” Cortes said. “I took that at face value. To see it voted on without any notice from the city was absolutely beyond anything I thought could happen.”

The city has previously received a petition with roughly 225 signatures in support of a dog park at the site. The Gazette requested the signatures from the City Clerk’s Office but had not received them by publication time. Calls and texts to Mary Powell, a resident who spoke on behalf of supporters of the dog park at the commission, have gone unreturned as a publication.

Cortes doubts that most signatories are from her immediate neighborhood. She and others also point to an earlier attempt to place a dog park in a vacant lot near the Youth Center three years ago – a plan that was dropped after nearby residents opposed it – as the reason they’re surprised this new proposal resurfaced without broader neighborhood input.

Anderson has invited any resident with concerns to meet with her during office hours. But while she is open to individual conversations, she is less supportive of holding a town-hall-style gathering, saying she prefers to discuss concerns in person. Cortes believes the hesitation stems from fear of resident backlash. “I don’t think she wants to bring everyone together because she knows the opposition would be strong,” she said.

Vote held without two commissioners

The dog-park resolution passed with only three commissioners present. Commissioners Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez had attended the meeting earlier but did not remain after the session was extended due to a memorial service for a former Coral Gables police officer.

Castro said she would have had questions had she been there for the vote—particularly about the petition and whether signers lived near the site. “The most normal thing to do would be to talk to the immediate neighbors,” she said. “I would have wanted to know who this was going to affect immediately and whether those people had been heard.”

Next steps

The city has not yet scheduled any additional discussion on the proposal. The plan has also not gone before the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, though a board member said it will be placed on the agenda for an upcoming meeting. Members of the parking board recently complained that they were not included in park naming proposals, and it appears there input has not yet been requested concerning the dog park.