Sit and Stay Dog Bar gets OK for north Fort Collins
Pat Ferrier
A city hearing officer has approved the Sit and Stay Dog Bar — a dog park, day kennel, bar and restaurant in north Fort Collins. It’s a new concept for the city proposed by Fort Collins resident Patrick Duncan.
The property is on a pad site in Country Club Corners, the shopping center at the corner of Willox Lane and North College Avenue. According to plans, it includes a place to eat, space to recreate with dogs, a place for doggie daycare and a kennel as well as a stage and place for private parties.
A city hearing officer issued the approval Dec. 9.
Dogs will not be allowed inside the restaurant space, but there is an open-air area that will serve food and drinks where dogs will be allowed. The dog park will be covered with irrigated artificial turf to keep the park clean and reduce odors, according to plans.
Duncan told the Coloradoan last year he first had the idea in 2013, when he was still a college student. Duncan has four dogs of his own — a malamute named Kovu, a husky named Osa, a Labrador retriever named Myla and a golden retriever-Lab-Great Pyrenees mix named Shasta.
Duncan had thought about creating a space where dogs could frolic while their human companions could have a drink, but it wasn’t until he saw the popularity of Bar K — a dog park, bar and restaurant in Kansas City — that he thought it might work in Fort Collins.
Duncan’s site at 1524 N. College Ave. is on 2.2 acres of vacant land bordered by Country Club Corners shopping center on the north, a car wash on the west and the Health District Family Clinic on the south.
“It’s an underutilized property that’s been sitting there since the ’90s waiting to be developed,” architect Russ Lee told the hearing officer. Lee, who represented Duncan at the hearing, said the dog bar will be “such a unique experience, such a unique thing for the region.”
Hearing officer Marcus McAskin, who said he has two dogs, said “it looks to be a pretty unique concept.”
Three residents who testified at the hearing all said they loved the idea. “It seems like a really cool place for dog owners to get together and have dogs explore the park,” Tess Jones said.