Seems like it’s always the little guy getting the blame when trouble or controversy occurs.

The town’s Community Services Advisory Commission met with dog owners last week about noise complaints at the dog park in Desert Vista Park.

Dog owners acknowledged there are occasions when barking might get out of hand and placed the blame on small dogs that use the off-leash facility.

Morton Mitchell noted that the dog park has been in Fountain Hills for 15 years, the first off- leash facility in the state, according to Mitchell.

He added that noise from excessive barking was recognized early on as a potential problem, and at that point a designated area for small dogs was moved to the back of the area away from the street closest to the nearby residential homes.

A barrier wall and fence was placed between the two areas including a block planter area. Mitchell said the wall has only been partially successful in keeping small dogs from barking at larger dogs on the other side of the fence.

Mitchell said a solution is relatively simple – place a visual barrier between the small dogs and larger dogs and the small ones will stop barking.

The CCAC held two meetings last week, one on Tuesday with neighbors, particularly in the Morningside neighborhood across Tioga Drive and a wash from the dog park.

The second meeting on Wednesday was to allow dog owners to discuss the issue.

Will Jacobs, president of the Morningside HOA, told the commission the reason the residents are unhappy is the disturbance caused by the barking and foul language used by dog owners on days when the dog park is active.

“It is not possible to hold a conversation outside (in the neighborhood),” Jacobs said.

While the dog owners agreed there is no excuse for foul language used by dog owners, no one attending the meeting acknowledged ever hearing such language by the human park patrons.

Jacobs made several suggestions including installation of a sound barrier between the park and the neighborhood, reducing the hours the park operates, ask Town Code enforcement and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to patrol the area more often and use some device to record the noise level to determine what neighbors are dealing with.

Other residents suggested closing the park one day a week (Sunday) to allow for “at least one day of peace,” reducing the daily hours and charging the dog owners, some of which are out-of-town residents.

Dennis Contino was representing ADOG at the meeting. That is a group of citizen dog owners who assist the town with dog park-related issues including maintenance and fundraising for amenities.

Contino wondered whether it was an issue with the dogs or dog owners. He suggested improving education for those using the park with better signage and a reminder that there are neighbors nearby.

CSAC Chair Natalie Varela thanked both groups for their input and said the commission would be discussing the issue at its regular session.

Commission Vice Chair Sherman Abrahamson also thanked the public for the input.

“What I’ve heard here suggests there can be a resolution,” Abrahamson said.

At its regular session on Monday, Jan. 26, the commission determined it would form a committee that includes commission members, dog owners and property owners near to the dog park. The committee will focus on a possible barrier between large and small dog areas of the park, as well as look at the operating hours.