City councilmembers, citizen groups and King County officials have given the go-ahead to a Kirkland Parks Department subcommittee to continue developing a feasibility study. It will explore the option of cultivating a portion of the Houghton landfill for use as an off-leash dog park for Kirkland's four-legged, canine residents.
In August, the subcommittee, comprised of parks department officials and local citizen groups members, presented the Kirkland City Council with its preliminary findings, detailing some of the pros and cons of the Houghton site and a second potential site, at Snyder's Corner, at the intersection of N.E. 70th Street and 132 Avenue N.E.
Since the project is still in its infancy no plans on breaking ground have been made. The council directed the subcommittee to continue looking into the issue and encouraged the members to be pragmatic and explore as many angles as possible.
The subcommittee also met, on separate occasions, with the South Rose Hill/Bridle Trails Neighborhood Association and King County officials, receiving much the same cautious green light.
"Basically, we've got an agreement from everybody that it sounds like a good idea," said Barry Russell, director of Parks and Community Services and member of the 12-person task force.
While most of the interested parties appear to be evading any definitive answers to the "where" question, there is consensus that a park for owners to exercise their dogs is. Kirkland Mayor Larry Springer, a pet-owner himself, thinks that considering the needs of pets is a relevant issue.
"I'm a dog-owner, and I would love to have a place to take my dog and let him run," he said. "They're an important part of a lot of families and trying to accommodate the interests [of pet owners is important]. You can't just dismiss them as insignificant creatures."
For the past 30 years, Kirkland has had two ordinances concerning pets in public, or "leash laws." One requires all dogs on city streets be either on a leash or under voice control, meaning they respond immediately to vocal commands from their owners. The other states that all dogs, without exception, are to be on a leash when inpublic parks. Although the law is clear that leashes are required at all times, enforcement in past decades has been lax.
That is until Waverly Park was recently found in need of re-seeding before it could be used as a practice soccer field. Over the years, the park, an undeveloped, 9-acre field, became "the de facto off-leash dog park of Kirkland," as Springer put it. As a result of heavy use by owners and dogs, the park suffered excessive damage.
According to Russell, a single dog in a manicured park causes the equivalent wear and tear of 36 people. The cost and effort of getting the field into a usable condition sparked the debate of creating an official off-leash dog park.
Also, in recent months, complaints about untethered dogs have increased. Audience members of Kirkland's popular outdoor concerts have complained that some dog owners, unmindful or unaware of the city ordinance, allow their dogs to wander, oftentimes walking on top of blankets, begging for food and generally getting in the way of people trying to enjoy an evening in the park.
Russell added that Kirkland's habitat area is a popular off-leash area. Home to 37 species of birds, several of which make their nests on the ground, turtles and beaver, loose dogs on the run are in the habitat are causing problems as they hunt through the underbrush and chase the various wildlife.
The city council considered the mix of complaints and needs and, in April, suggested a task force be assembled to look into feasible sites for a designated off-leash area. Since then, the Dogs and Parks Committee has met every Monday, discussing the specific needs and criteria of such a facility.
Among a list of criteria to be considered for the future site, it must have accessible parking, fencing, water access and avoid any contact with habitat refuges.
While both the Houghton landfill and Snyder's Corner are the main candidates for the park, Russell says he and the rest of the group are focusing their energy on exploring the landfill. Snyder's Corner is still a possibility but has inherent problems. It is undeveloped, has no convenient parking, is bordered by two main thoroughfares and has no trees. In short, it is an uninviting piece of property and would likely not be appealing to pet owners.
The more likely Houghton landfill is owned by the county, and currently houses a solid-waste transfer station. At 29 acres, the property has plenty of room for development.
Last year, two new baseball fields and a soccer field were created there, compliments of a deal between the Kirkland Little League Association and King County. The area has ample parking, easy access and offers dogs plenty of room to roam in a proposed 4-9 acre park.
That is not to say that the Houghton landfill comes without complications. Bruce Feuling, president of the South Rose Hill/Bridle Trails Neighborhood Association, is concerned that the area, being a landfill, will present some unique difficulties of its own.
"You have issues that are central to abandoned landfills," he said. "Things such as surface area runoff, ponding water, leachate and methane gas percolating up through the landfill cover."
He also expressed concerns that a Kirkland dog park, regardless of where it is, may instead become a regional dog park. However, he agrees that designating a park for dogs to exercise is the way to go.
"As the city becomes more urbanized, there will be less and less 'green-space' for people to take their dogs to," Feuling said. "Having an off-leash dog area seems like the responsible thing to do."
The subcommittee is listening closely to public opinion as it works towards a solution to the problem of balancing the needs of pet owners with the desires of non-pet owners. To that end, Russell foresees plenty of work to be done before any trucks start loading in topsoil.
After the task of getting thumbs up from the three major parties (city, county and citizens), the committee still has a long road ahead. Having been instructed to be as thorough as possible in their deliberations, they want to approach the Parks Department, as well as the public, with a working scenario by November and then the city council in December. That plan will include finance issues, potential answers to stewardship questions and a rough outline of the physical park.
"We're in the infancy of the issues in the group," Russell said. "But at the same time, we're moving through some pretty heady stuff."
He said that while Kirkland's 2,600 registered dogs need a place to run, the park is a partial solution to broader theme.
"An off-leash dog area is only one small portion of the bigger issue that we're talking about," he said. "We think it'll address a major piece of it, but it is only a piece of it. It's important that as a city, we make a decision of what is the place of dogs in our parks. And there's a lot of passion on both sides of the fence."
