City Has Perfect Place for Ferret Park

It's not surprising that the intersection of William Street and West End Boulevard attracts an abundance of political signage every time an election is in the offing. It is a very busy crossroad with lots of eyeballs passing through everyday. For as long as I can remember, the northwest corner of this intersection has been an especially popular posting place for politicians, but that's a problem.

Not only is most of this property actually owned by the city, there is also a very large right of way on this corner. And according to the Cape Girardeau Code of Ordinances, signage of any kind other than official traffic notices may not be placed in any right of way.

It's right there in Chapter 25, Article 5, Section 25-504, Paragraph B. Pretty hard to miss, if you ask me.

Granted, this corner doesn't appear to be city property. In fact, it looks like it is just part of the yard of the house next to it. I'm pretty sure who ever lives there even keeps it mowed.

It doesn't help that the city rarely acknowledges it owns this parcel. The one time I've witnessed the city tending to this property was to cut down a dead tree back in 2009. I think they may have also moved some political signage a couple times after I wrote that their presence on this public property was against the law. I did that twice. Once with a blog in 2009 and again in the summer of 2010. Obviously, I am bothered by these advertisements.

I think these signs irritate me so because I have a disdain and distrust for most of the people who gravitate towards politics. Maybe this tiny tract is my personal Maginot Line. If we let these aspiring politicians get a foothold promoting their selves and the agendas of the people bankrolling them on this petite piece of public land then what next? Will Capaha Park be hidden from view by banners and billboards endorsing all the people wanting to be Your Next Congressman, Councilman, or Commissioner?

And here we are with another political campaign underway and the city is once again ignoring campaign signage located on our public land. Or I should say, they were ignoring it. After driving by a congressional candidate's sign for a couple of weeks, I finally emailed the city in mid-April questioning the placement on this corner (top photo). Within a couple days, it was moved off of the city property and out of the right of way (bottom photo).

This grassy knoll is the proverbial redheaded stepchild of city-owned lands. The city appears to want nothing to do with it unless someone says something. My impression is they don't know what to do with it.

I suppose it could be used as a dog park, although I've always thought those were pretty silly things outside of the most densely populated cities. Isn't pretty much everything that is not inside, a park for a dog? That was the case for the dogs my family had growing up.

And if Cape can sustain a deer herd with an estimated population of somewhere between sixteen and six million -- reports vary -- then the city isn't what most people would consider "densely populated."

But, thanks to the casino slush fund a dog park is already in the works. There haven't been many details about this city enhancement or if the management of Petco is peeved by the impending loss of the title, albeit unofficial.

If a dog park is already planned, then what else could we do with this tiny sliver of public property?

I suppose it could be used as a park for other pets. Only 37% of US households own a dog, which means the city council is essentially ignoring 63% of the other households who don't.

Unfortunately, a lot of pets don't need or want a park like dogs or their owners do. The most popular pets after dogs are cats, fishes and birds. I don't think any of those pets would use a park although cats might if the other two were there to be played with. And the space is way too small for the fifth most common pet, horses.

One less popular pet that might be suitable for this space are ferrets. They are small and only about a half-million households have them nationwide, so there probably aren't that many in town. A ferret park would be a good way for the city council to reach out to some city minority pet owners and demonstrate to the public that the casino slush fund is being used for everyone and not just the canine elite.

Heck, if I had a park nearby that I could let my ferret frolic freely, I might even consider buying one as a pet. I wonder if Petco sells them?