Dogs may get room to run at Sunrise

OLYMPIA - A neighborhood meeting to discuss a proposal to create the city's first fenced, off-leash dog park is set for tonight.

The city proposes creating a 1.6-acre dog area in Sunrise Park, a 5.74-acre park at 500 Birch St. N.W. on Olympia’s west side.

City Councilwoman Rhenda Strub, an advocate for canine parks, said she would like the park to open at the same time Thurston County’s planned 6-acre dog area opens at the former landfill in Hawks Prairie. That park is scheduled to open in October 2010. County commissioners approved that dog park last month, and a groundbreaking is planned soon.

Strub said she’s concerned that Sunrise will be overrun with dogs if it opens first.

“We would like to schedule a groundbreaking” for the city park, Strub said at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Jonathon Turlove, an associate planner with the city Parks Department, said the park isn’t a done deal. The city first wants to get input from neighbors, which it will do at tonight’s meeting.

“We are really hoping to move forward on this,” he said.

The city has set aside $80,000 for a dog park, but the park should cost about $40,000, he said. City officials also would like to add a restroom, but that would exceed the $80,000 budget, Turlove said. Other money would have to be identified for that project.

Sunrise, which opened in 1995, features a playground, picnic tables, basketball courts and open space.

City leaders have talked about adding a dog park for years. A city study in 2006 suggested adding acre-sized dog areas in Priest Point and Yauger parks, at a cost of $80,000 per park. The parks were never built.

The study estimated that about 36,000 dogs are in Olympia and its urban growth area, which has about 60,000 people. It found that dog parks are popular in Western Washington – there are more than 30 of them – but the closest one to Olympia is at Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood, about 20 miles away.

Meanwhile, pet owners let their dogs roam illegally in parks throughout the city. A group called Sound Hounds has been lobbying local leaders to create dog parks. President Lynn Scroggins said she has been working for five years on the issue and is pleased with the results.

Her group has lobbied Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater and Thurston County to build parks, she said. Lacey is studying the issue, and Tumwater’s parks plan includes dog parks, she said.

Scroggins said dog parks are a way to create community. She hopes the parks will be the beginning of a network of dog areas – large, medium and small.

“That’s what they are is initial dog parks,” she said.

Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869

mbatcheldor@theolympian.com