Cordelia Park

Cordelia Park sits at the north end of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway, in Villa Heights. Mecklenburg County owns it and carries it as a developed community park in the Central district. Dogs are allowed. The county’s Park and Recreation Facilities Ordinance handles pets in a single line, Sec. 26: “It shall be unlawful to have pets in the areas of County parks where pets are expressly prohibited.” Allowed by default, narrowed only by posted signs.

One exclusion is published. The Cordelia Park Indoor Pavilion, the reservable building overlooking the pool, states “No pets allowed except for trained service animals.” A park ranger opens and secures that building around events.

The greenway carries the county’s only published leash language: “Dogs must be on a 6ft or shorter leash and should be walked on the right edge of the trail.” The same list asks that waste go in a trash can. Nothing published addresses the playground, the pool deck, or the rest of the grounds, which leaves Mecklenburg County’s animal ordinance and its requirement of physical restraint anywhere off your own property.

Two addresses. The park is 600 East 24th Street; the pool has its own entrance at 2100 North Davidson. The upper parking lot sits next to the playground, uphill from the pavilion, which is where the county’s cleanup crews meet. Cordelia Pool runs through Labor Day, September 7 this year, noon to 6 in two sessions, weekends only from August 24. Admission is $2 for county residents, $3 otherwise. The sprayground runs 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day. Water for dogs isn’t published one way or the other, and no county page lists a fountain.

The greenway itself runs over seventeen miles, Brevard Street to the South Carolina state line, part of the Cross Charlotte Trail. Southbound it covers a mile of residential blocks before reaching Alexander Street Park. Free Range Brewing is two blocks up North Davidson from the pool entrance. The posted closing time isn’t published online anywhere, and Sec. 31 makes staying past it unlawful.