Is Tri-Cities finally getting a 2nd dog park? Neighbors are upset with this initial choice

The city of Kennewick is considering locations for its first dog park, the second public one in the Tri-Cities.

Once a location is picked, it should take no more than a month to build the initial phase of the park, said Nick Lagunas, the city’s parks and planning supervisor.

City officials had been focusing on the five-acre Arboretum, a park just north of the Benton County Fairgrounds, in east Kennewick, Wash.

But after neighbors objected, they are taking a second look at other city parks with sufficient open land, infrastructure and water.

That could include Hansen Park on South Columbia Center Boulevard, Columbia Park on the Columbia River, Keewaydin Park which includes the Keewaydin library or the Southridge Sports and Events Complex in south Kennewick.

If Columbia Park is selected as the site, it could take longer to develop, because of the six months to one year that would be required to get federal permits, Lagunas said. The park land is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The city also will be looking at neighborhood needs, such as serving nearby apartment complexes, and use as a destination park for dog owners across the city.

The city plans to spend the rest of this year doing outreach to select a location.

It has held two meetings this month for neighbors at the Arboretum park.

Dog park ranks high in survey

Now the only one of the Tri-Cities with a dedicated public park for off-leash dogs is Richland, which has the Paws-abilities Place at Badger Mountain Community Park between Keene Road and Englewood Drive near Yoke’s Fresh Market.

The well-used park is temporarily closed for maintenance and repair but an adjacent temporary location is fenced and available for off-leash dogs, according to the Richland city website.

A survey done to develop a new Kennewick parks and recreation comprehensive plan found that a dog park was one of the top five most wanted services, Lagunas said.

City officials had narrowed their focus to the Arboretum at 505 S. Oak for the proposed dog park. The city has $225,000 to be spent in that area of the city and also planned to look for sponsors.

The Arboretum park has mature trees for shade and open grassy space. It also would provide an amenity for the east side of the city, Lagunas said.

People already come there with dogs, which are required to be on leash now, and dog waste bags are available at the park.

Tentative plans for the Arboretum called for an area for small dogs and two fenced areas for large dogs, which would allow one area to be closed if the lawn needed to be maintained while the second area remained open.

In the initial phase the parking area would be expanded, the park enclosed in a fence and double entry gates built to provide a small enclosed space to contain off leash dogs where they enter the park.

Phase 2 would add a restroom and Phase 3 would add some small sun or rain shelters, plus walking paths around the areas planned for large dogs.

But after about 30 neighbors of the park on Oak Street signed a petition objecting to the dog park there and presented it at a Parks and Recreation Commission meeting Thursday, the city is looking at other sites, Laguna said.

“We don’t want to put something in that is not appreciated or accepted by the residents themselves,” he said.

Why not Arboretum park?

The city considered the park lightly used. But residents said the neighborhood, which they described as majority Hispanic, depends on the park.

Residents hold birthday parties and other gatherings at the park, and their children and teens gather there, said Maria Inés Martinez.

The petition signed by residents said people eat at the picnic tables, play soccer, play volleyball, play in the winter snow and come with friends to enjoy the beauty of the park.

The open space symbolizes freedom, unity and peace to Martinez and is a place that makes people proud to live in East Kennewick, she said.

Those signing the petition also objected to the institutional-look of a planned five-foot fence to surround the dog park. They are concerned that the barking of dogs will disrupt the quiet of the neighborhood, according to the petition.

Nearby Eastgate Park, on the south side of East 10th Avenue and the west side of Oak Street, already has a walking path and bathroom, the petition said.

The bathroom there has been a magnet for gang graffiti and drug use and is closed the majority of the time. Residents living near the park fear that adding a restroom for the dog park there would bring the same problems.

The park area already has some problems that a dog park would increase, they said. The small parking area there is sometimes used for drug dealing and illegal sex activities and expanding the parking area could add to the problem, they said.

There also is transient and homeless use of the park already and new fences could be used to put up temporary shelters with tarps, according to neighbors.