6 thoughts on “Spencer’s Run: No More Swapping Codes

  1. Ok, as a dog owner and occasional Spencer’s Run user I can appreciate the ease of a key fob because remembering numbers when your dog is losing his mind is stressful, but… what now? I’ll wait until my property tax bill comes in to say this for sure, but for now, it feels like we’re entering our peak weird rich miser era.

    I also admittedly have no idea when we last paid for Spencer’s Run. It honestly might have been 2022. But remembering that due date is not on me.

    I have long wished for a simple town-wide online payment portal to let me pay for my dog licenses, park fees for tennis and the pool, transfer station and parking lot passes all at once. It’s impossible to track what’s due and when, and totally absurd to expect me to just automatically mail a check to each disparate town body when I get the spidey sense it could be coming due. I’d counter that our town is asking for dog run users to pay for said town’s own administrative inefficiency in managing their revenue streams, and until then, for anyone who needs it, the dog park code is 420*69

    • I second a simple online portal (without additional online payment fees). I would think it would benefit the town of NC to set this up and encourage online payment vs discourage it. Other than the CC fees, it is a lower cost way of transacting than mailing in, or even worse, face to face, payment processing. Even the DMV has this service!

  2. When Spencer’s Run started charging a fee for access we brought our dog to one of the New Canaan Land Trust properties. There are great trails to explore and we got our own exercise at the same time as our dog. For us it was a better option than Spencer’s Run.

  3. This definitely seems like a solution for a poor administrative system by the Recreation Dept. They used to change the codes at every renewal but seemed to have stopped doing so.

  4. Spencer’s Run is widely recognized as a jewel. It’s the envy of every other town; the best dog park in the region from the standpoint of design. What a shame therefore that our own Parks & Rec treats it and its users so badly. If New Canaanites must pay a premium for access to an area of a public park, they have a right to expect it to be properly cared for. Key fobs?? How about keeping the grass alive?

  5. Just remember the Land Trust properties’ policies regarding dogs. Our dog gets very threatened and difficult when he is on leash and another dog is not, so we only go to Watson-Symington after noon. Here is the policy from the NCLT website: “Dog Policy: Dogs are welcome at the Watson-Symington Preserve. We allow dogs to be off-leash from sunrise to noon, provided that dogs are under strict voice control, stay on-trail, and stay within 25 feet of their human. Leashes are required from noon onwards. Note that this policy applies only to the Watson-Symington Preserve: dogs are required to be leashed at all times on all other Land Trust trails. Commercial dog walkers are prohibited at all Land Trust preserves, and we ask dog owners to bring no more than 2 dogs with them to the preserve.”

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