Tri-Cities are giving off-leash dog parks a trial run

Richland parks just might be going to the dogs.

The Tri-City Dog Park Society is running a demonstration dog park in Lynnwood Loop Park Saturday and today that it hopes will provide an example of how setting up dog parks might benefit residents, their pets and the city’s bottom line.

A debate has raged in Richland recently over the cost to maintain some of the city’s small parks that a 2007 survey showed were underused.

Staff in the city’s parks department recommended closing or consolidating some of the small parks to save on maintenance costs, allowing resources to be used in neighborhoods that are underserved by parks.

But numerous residents have opposed that idea, saying they want the city to find ways to keep all of its parks.

Audrey Ulrich, president of the Tri-City Dog Park Society, said dog parks could be one option.

Small neighborhood parks aren’t the best places for dog parks because they’re small – some less than an acre – and too close to homes. But setting aside space for dog parks in some of the larger neighborhood parks, like the nearly 11-acre Lynnwood Loop Park, could bring the city opportunities for grants and business sponsorships, Ulrich said.

That would pay the costs associated with the dog park, and allow city money to be used elsewhere, like mowing the grass in small parks.

“Any money coming into the system helps with the maintenance of all the parks,” Ulrich said.

Richland Mayor Pro Tem Ed Revell said he thinks the city would consider any proposal that might draw grants or business sponsorships for city parks.

“I’m sure the city would want to look at something like that,” Revell said. “Since we don’t have a park like that, it might be nice to have one.”

Ulrich said setting up dog parks also could be a way of drawing people to parks that aren’t getting much use now.

“Dog parks are very well used,” she said. “The only other thing more used are children’s playgrounds.”

The society hopes to create a network of dog parks throughout the Tri-Cities where owners can take their pets for some off-leash exercise and socialize with other dog lovers.

“Dogs are a great way to meet people,” Ulrich said.

A plan for a dog park in Kennewick’s Columbia Park has been approved and the society hopes it will open by summer 2009.

The society also is looking at the possibility of offering off-leash hiking trails where appropriate.

Users of dog parks would be responsible for keeping the park clean, including scooping up after pets, Ulrich said.

She said the demonstration dog park this weekend will give people a taste of how a dog park would look and work.