Kennewick closing in on spot for its 1st dog park. There’s only 1 big hurdle
The dream of a new Tri-Cities dog park might actually be moving closer to reality after Kennewick’s parks commission took a major step toward choosing a site.
The commissioners unanimously settled recently on Columbia Park as their top pick. The decision means city staff is now working to determine the feasibility, including cost estimates.
If approved, Kennewick’s first dog park would be going in on the east end of Columbia Park between the Family Fishing Pond and the Lampson Pits parking lot.
It would be the second public dog park in the Tri-Cities. The only other one is Paws-abilities Place in Richland at Badger Mountain Community Park off Keene Road.
There aren’t many privately owned dog parks either. Love’s Travel Stop in Pasco has a small dog park area, and SniffSpot, which is like an Airbnb for private dog parks, only lists one operated in the Tri-Cities.
Parks Recreation Facilities Director Nick Farline told the Herald that area would give the city a head start since many of the necessary pieces are already in place. There’s ample parking, restrooms, water lines and trails connecting it to the larger park.
All they’d need is fencing and amenities such as some benches and water-fill stations.
The biggest hurdle to making the park happen is getting approval from the Army Corp of Engineers and other community partners because Columbia Park has agreements requiring cooperation with the Corps and local tribes for any changes made along the waterfront.
“Adding a dog park to the city of Kennewick has been a priority for several years,” Farline said. “This year we comprised a group of three commission members to go out there and kind of take a look.”
The first recommendation they considered was putting a dog park by the Arboretum, near the Benton County Fairgrounds, which also has a variety of other amenities. After discussing it with nearby homeowners, that option was taken off the table.
About 30 neighbors of the park signed a petition against the Arboretum location and presented it to the commission in July.
That park would have been about 5 acres. Other sites considered included Hansen Park on the west end of the city and Keewaydin Park downtown near Kennewick High School.
“It’s really interesting when you look at parks around Kennewick, most of the parks have neighborhoods around them and typically dog parks are put in where there aren’t a lot of people around them,” Farline said.
“This particular location (at Columbia Park) there’s no neighbors, you can get to it right off of (Highway) 240, there’s no one to disturb, and no other approval would be needed outside of the Corps and our other partners.”
“It’s a spot that would lend itself well to a dog park ... ” he said. “All those factors really contributed to what we think is a really natural spot for a destination-type dog park.”
Farline said making a new dog park a reality will be a community effort, and he encourages residents with suggestions to contact the parks department. Once the process is further along, there will likely be other public input sessions as well.
The city has about $225,000 budgeted for a new dog park, which wouldn’t quite cover the estimated $307,000 cost of creating one to Columbia Park. Farline said they will need to also look into other ways of making up the difference once they are further along in the process.
The park would have separate areas for large dogs and small, though specific details for the breakdown at Columbia Park haven’t yet been discussed.
Farline said that with the level of support for a new dog park, he’s optimistic about this option.
“What we hope to do is have people bring forward some suggestions or things they think will work well,” he said. “It becomes a community effort because we have people who are passionate.”
A recent survey conducted as part of the department’s comprehensive planning had a new dog park near the top of the list of priorities for the 4,000 who responded.
Herald reporter Annette Cary contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 6, 2023 at 12:54 PM.
