Dog lovers rejoice! Your asks have been heard and are being considered.

An ordinance change has been proposed that would provide additional off-leash dog recreation areas throughout the City of Superior.  The new exercise areas for dogs (and their owners) would come by utilizing already existing sites; the change would be that owners wouldn't have to have their pet on a leash while utilizing them.

The proposed ordinance change has already made it through the Superior Parks and Recreation Commision, with a vote to approve happening on January 26.  The next step is in the hands of the Superior City Council.

According to the details shared by the Superior Telegram [paywall], the only choice right now for pet owners to exercise their dogs without a leash is the city Dog Park, which is located off North 28th Street, near the Millenium Trail.   If the ordinance proposal passes the City Council, the following areas would be added:

The Yellow and Red Trails in the Superior Municipal Forest - April through November (These trails close during the winter months due to the lack of snow removal)

  • McClure's Landing
  • Wisconsin Point Beach - from Lot 1 south to Dutchman Creek
  • Allouez Hockey Rink - April through November
  • Billings Park Civic Center Skating Rink - April through November
  • Carl Gullo Park Skating Rink - April through November
  • Pattison Park Skating Rink - April through November
  • Red Barn Skating Rink - April through November
  • South End Skating Rink - April through November
  • Wade Bowl Park Skating Rink - April through November

Prior to any switchover (if approved), the city would install signage to let people know where their dogs could be exercised off-leash at each of the sites.

The majority of the sites were selected because they could be converted to off-leash dog areas with minimal to no effort or money.  Superior Parks Recreation and Forestry Director Linda Cadotte explains:

"[For some of the spots] some changes would need to be made.  For example, all of those hockey rinks would need to have something constructed to close the area off and have a little bit of an entrance."

As written, the current city ordinance regarding dogs and leashes reads "Owners shall exercise proper care and control of their animals to prevent them from becoming a public nuisance.  Any animal not under restraint (unless in an off-leash area) or which has become a public nuisance could be impounded and the owner subject to penalty".  The revised ordinance would add verbiage that "owners must keep their animal under restraint".

Current penalty/fine for leash-law violations ranges "between $50 and $500".

Now that the ordinance change has cleared both the Superior Parks and Recreation Commission and the Public Safety Commission, the next stop is on the agenda of the Superior City Council.  That vote is expected to happen sometime in early March.

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