Seattle Parks and Recreation has winnowed down the choices for potential off-leash areas in Magnolia and Queen Anne from five to three, said park planner Lana Krisman at an Oct. 12 public hearing in front of the Board of Park Commissioners.
Magnolia Park and Thorndyke Park didn't make the cut, but Magnolia Manor Park on 28th Avenue West did, as well as Lower Kinnear Park and David Rodgers Park in Queen Anne, she said.
The Park Board meeting was a follow up to public hearings held earlier this year in both Magnolia and Queen Anne, and there was no consensus about any of the choices, Krisman said. "But there have been very good comments for and against all the sites."
There are 11 of the off-leash areas now in Seattle, and the program has been a model for other cities, she said. But the city's goal originally was to set up areas in all sectors of the city where dogs could run free, Krisman noted. "And Queen Anne and Magnolia do not have an off-leash area."
Based on "numerous requests" from Citizens for Off Leash Areas (COLA), however, the idea is finally getting a second look, according to a briefing paper Krisman prepared for the Park Board.
Mirroring the often-contentious debate about setting up off-leash areas in Seattle back in the mid-1990s, those testifying in front of the Park Board were both for and against the idea generally and for and against the choices specifically. Some at the meeting also suggested that off-leash areas should be considered in Discovery Park, Lower Smith Cove Park and even in Interbay.
Discussion so far has centered on creating just one, 18-month pilot program for an off-leash area in one of the two neighborhoods, but COLA chair Michelle Ferris said her group supports creating two each in Magnolia and Queen Anne.
"I know many of our members would love a site in Discovery Park," she said of one possibility. But Krisman noted that putting a dog run in the Magnolia park would require amending the park's Master Plan, a move that would surely be "protracted and contentious." Still, Ferris suggested that the Parks Department take more time and consider the idea.
Paul Fogarty, a Magnolian who owns two dogs, said he strongly supported setting up an off-leash area, but he added that the available choices all have serious flaws. "I would expect lawsuits will follow," he added.
Echoing Ferris, Fogarty also wondered why the choice has to be rushed through. "Why don't we investigate Discovery Park?" he asked. "Why don't we investigate Lower Smith Cove Park?"
Don Harper, the chair of the Queen Anne Community Council's parks committee said the committee supports the idea of putting in off-leash area in Rodgers Park. "We do want at least two (off-leash areas), please," he added.
Ruth Schaefer, a Magnolia resident, said she favors having pilot projects in both neighborhoods. "I think this is really an equity issue," Schaefer said, adding that pet license records show that there are more dogs than kids in Seattle.
However, most of those who testified at the meeting were against setting up an off-leash area in their neighborhoods. That was especially so in the case of Rodgers Park, where 150 nearby residents have signed a petition against having a dog run, Krisman said.
Linda Adams, who doesn't have dogs, is one of them. She objected to the droppings that have been left behind by off-leash dogs in Rodgers. "I've stepped in it," grimaced Adams, who added that she's had to carry her child home screaming because poop has been squished between the child's toes.
Like most parks in Magnolia and Queen Anne, Rodgers Park is already a de facto off-leash area, noted Park Commissioner Jack Collins, who visited the location the previous weekend.
"Of the 12 dogs I saw, I'm guessing that seven of them were off leash," he said. The dogs' owners included one man who was "really, really obnoxious," Collins said.
Frank Spracklin, who lives near Magnolia Manor Park, has a dog and said he doesn't expect the city to spend money for a place where his pet can run free. "I have canvassed people, and most people don't want one (an off-leash area in Magnolia Manor)," he said.
Spracklin also complained that people already let their dogs run free in the park morning, noon and night. And like Commissioner Collins, Spracklin said he's also been confronted by angry dog owners when he challenges them about having their pets off leash.
Connie Buhl, a dog owner, slammed the idea of using Lower Kinnear Park for an off-leash area. For one thing, it's an Olmstead park, she said, referring to early urban park proponent Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed New York's Central Park. "Kinnear should not have been considered from the beginning," Buhl said, adding that the area doesn't meet the criteria for such uses. "It's a bit of the emperor has no clothes," is how she put it.
Krisman said the Park Board will make a recommendation to Parks Superintendent Ken Bounds about an off-leash area or areas at its Oct. 23 meeting. If approved, funding would be sought, and a pilot off-leash program would be set up by city council ordinance in late 2007.
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.[[In-content Ad]]
