Charlotte, NC—  Dogs and their owners may use Mecklenburg County dog parks for FREE beginning Tuesday, July 1, 2008. 
 
The old system of  "pooch passes" with annual fees ($35/yr for County residents) was phased-out over the past 12 months, and all pooch passes expire at the beginning of the new fiscal year. Dog parks will now be available for all users without charge or membership requirements. All dogs must have current rabies vaccinations and licenses, according to city and county ordinance and state law. Dog owners are still responsible for their pets.
 
This decision was made and announced more than a year ago with approval of Park and Recreation's Off- Leash Advisory Council. The change followed a re-examination of the old policy by parks officials and a survey of how dog parks are run in other cities and counties. "Parks departments in Raleigh, Ft. Myers, Richmond, New York City, Seattle, Portland, OR and other cities successfully run FREE dog parks without controlled entry," said Greg Jackson, Mecklenburg's Director of Park Operations. "Our re-evaluation led us to let everyone use our dog parks for free."
 
Park and Recreation initiated pooch passes in 2002 with county's first dog park at McAlpine Creek Park. The purpose of pooch passes was to control access and help pay for dog parks and maintenance. As dog parks and pooch passes increased (more than 3000 passes were issued), this system became increasingly cumbersome and expensive. As the department builds more dog parks in the future, costs would rise further, and pooch passes would consume an increasing amount of staff time to administer. This, plus the cost of building computerized, communications-linked, electric gate systems caused the department to re-evaluate the need for passes.
 
Mecklenburg County dog parks are open 7am – sunset every day. The parks department will continue to maintain and operate all existing dog parks at:

• McAlpine Creek Community Park, 8711 Monroe Rd, Charlotte
• Reedy Creek Park,  2900 Rocky River Rd, Charlotte
• Ramsey Creek Park, 18441 Nantz Rd, Cornelius
• William R. Davie District Park, 4635 Matthews-Pineville Road, Charlotte.

Additional dog parks will still be built in the future. A new dog park is expected to open in Frazier Park, 1201 West 4th Street, during July to serve the rapidly growing residential community in uptown Charlotte.