by Erin Miller, West Hawaii Today, Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Tania Orol's initial vision of a West Hawaii dog park isn't terribly complicated. She'd like to see three or four acres, fenced in, with a few shade trees and benches. The park would need running water, and possibly lights, though she hopes those would run on solar energy, to cut down on utility costs. But the first hurdle could be more difficult -- she'd like Hawaii County to donate the land, help with maintenance and staffing. "I love dogs," Orol said. "I always want to do what's best for them."

In her mind, that means an off-leash dog park. Orol used to take her dog to an area the county opened up two or three years ago, behind the soccer fields at the Old Kona Airport Park. The county shut the dog area down a few months ago, citing incidents of dogs jumping on children and adults, and of owners not picking up after their dogs.

Earlier this month, at a forum for County Council candidates, Orol asked the prospective lawmakers if they would support a county dog park. All said they would. That affirmative answer prompted her to circulate petitions throughout West Hawaii, garnering community support for a park. Already the number of signatures on the petitions Orol has, has topped 700; she said with the petitions other people are circulating, she expects the total signatures to have reached nearly 1,000 in less than a month. Also signing on to the idea is an architect, Orol said, who is willing to donate design services and a company that will donate soil for the park.

Nora Rhodes, a West Hawaii resident who met Orol at her workplace, has circulated the petition, sometimes pulling her vehicle to the side of the road if she sees a person walking with a dog. Some people sign right away, she said, but others say they don't think the county will support the effort. That negative attitude concerns her, she said.

Creating a dog park does have challenges, Rhodes said. "There are definitely a lot of rules and provisions that need to be set up," she said. Those include determining how to tell if a dog is vaccinated before allowing the animal into the park and organizing volunteers to help with maintenance. A concern often voiced throughout the community is a worry about owners not cleaning up after their dogs, but Rhodes and Orol agreed that park users will need to self-police the off-leash area. "These dog owners are going to pick up after their dog," Rhodes said. "There's no ifs, ands or buts." If people witness a dog owner not cleaning up if an animal defecates, there would need to be rules to allow the park to prevent those owners from using the park in the future, Rhodes said. Orol, Rhodes and a few other West Hawaii residents are researching forming a nonprofit organization, Let Us Run Our Dogs, to promote, and possibly help maintain, the park.

Another consideration, and a way to help enforce park rules, would possibly be a permitting or membership process for the park, Rhodes said. The group is looking into whether that would be legal, if the park was on county property. Parks and Recreation Director Pat Engelhard said the county is allowed to require permits for some uses of county parks. If someone wants to camp at a county park, or rent a pavilion for a party, permits and security deposits are paid, she said. A big concern, from the county's perspective, is having enough employees to run a dog park. "If we had a dog park, we would have to have volunteers, because we do not have staff," she said.

Orol said she plans to attend a master plan meeting for Old Kona Airport Park next week. The county is paying $500,000 to replan how to use the park, which the state transferred to the county last year after at least three decades of the county asking for control. The plan will be at least the sixth for the land -- and the second by the county -- since the early 1970s. Orol said the planning process can take a long time, and she hopes, with the help of the next County Council, to get a park in place sooner, rather than later. Compromise and prioritization of projects at the park will be key in the planning process, Engelhard said. "There isn't as much space as everyone would want to have," she said.

by Erin Miller, West Hawaii Today, Friday, December 19, 2008

The Kailua Village Business Improvement District is working with a West Hawaii nonprofit organization on a plan to convert basketball courts at Kailua Playground into a dog park, but the interim director of Parks and Recreation says he had not heard of the proposal.

In September, Tania Orol began collecting signatures on a petition to show support for an off-leash dog park in West Hawaii. She and other dog owners, who formed Let Us Run Our Dogs, initially envisioned a parcel of land at Old Kona Airport Park, fenced and self-contained. Not long after the effort began, representatives of the KVBID approached her, she said, and asked if the group members would be interested in turning the basketball and tennis courts at Kailua Playground into such a park.

"They had a piece of property they wanted to improve on," Orol said. Mattson Davis, a Kailua-Kona businessman, said the KVBID board was already discussing what changes might be made to the park when they saw that Orol and her group were seeking land. "We're a body to improve the district," Davis said, defining the group's authority to be looking for new uses for county facilities. "We identified it as an opportunity within the village. It was very underutilized."

The group's members do believe a dog park would be a better use of the land than the athletic courts, he added. The county has other basketball and tennis courts available, while there is no dog park, he said. Further, Kailua Playground has a "bad rap," he said. KVBID did a two-week survey of park users, which showed 75 people using the park, mostly on Fridays and Saturdays.

Parks and Recreation Interim Director James Komata said an inquiry from West Hawaii Today on Thursday was the first he'd heard of the idea. Creating a dog park, either from scratch or at an existing county facility, would be difficult, because county code and administrative rules prohibit dogs off leash, he said.

Earlier this week, Representatives of KVBID also suggested to Bobby Command, one of Mayor Billy Kenoi's executive assistants, getting rid of the park's courts, Command said. Command said such a decision would be an administrative one and would likely need to involve corporation counsel because of the required law changes to allow dogs off leash. KVBID likely approached Command, with that question and others, because he is a representative of the mayor, he said. Ultimately, if West Hawaii residents are more interested in a dog park than basketball courts, that would play into the county's decision, he added.

Orol's vision for the park would include a separate area for small dogs, a few benches and shade trees, grassy areas and water features in which dogs could play. She would like to see a permit system in place, to ensure that dogs using the park have up-to-date vaccinations, microchips and dog licenses. A meeting to discuss plans for the playground is scheduled for 5 p.m. Jan. 15 at the playground, Orol said. Anyone interested in working with Let Us Run Our Dogs can contact her at 936-4908.

by Erin Miller, West Hawaii Today, Friday, January 9, 2009

A meeting next week, pitched to canine lovers as a chance to support converting a county park from basketball and tennis courts to a dog park, is now being touted as a chance for West Hawaii residents to talk about their preferred uses for the space.

Members of the Kailua Village Business Improvement District approached Tania Orol, of Let Us Run Our Dogs, a few months ago, Orol told West Hawaii Today last month, expressing enthusiasm for the project and helping the group with a park proposal. The group's executive director said Wednesday that the intent was never to solely promote a dog park. "We're trying to improve a public space," Debbie Baker said. "Trying to host public discussion on what they would like to see."

Baker said the KVBID doesn't have a problem with basketball players, nor was the push to make supposed improvements at the playground, which is on Kuakini Highway, done because of the type of people who use the park. The organization's members do wish to see a more used, aesthetically pleasing park, she added. A survey of the park a few months ago showed 75 people used the park, split between tennis and basketball courts.

West Hawaii attorney Mark Van Pernis and Bobby Command, an executive assistant to Mayor Billy Kenoi, both community basketball players, said people do use the courts. "It's a heavily used area by local residents," Van Pernis said. "Is there adequate support for an alternate use?" Command said he received a few e-mails from KVBID about the upcoming meeting. He was the only county official in the current administration apparently approached about the change in park use. Command said youth league basketball teams may use the courts for practice. He planned to attend the meeting, to listen to the community's suggestions, as well as provide words of caution. "There's a number of legal challenges and issues that probably need to be resolved before anyone makes any decision," Command said, adding that county residents can always make suggestions about different uses for facilities. "I wouldn't want to see a net loss of active park space." He said he was not certain whether using the area for a dog park would be active or passive use.

KVBID hasn't brought the idea to anyone in the Parks and Recreation Department because to do so would be premature, Baker said. County Corporation Counsel Lincoln Ashida said he was not aware of any particular protocol for county residents wanting to change the use of a county facility. Talking to the agency responsible for the facility is probably a good step, he said, referring specific questions about whether other groups have tried to change uses to the Parks and Recreation Department.

KVBID members also have claimed that the improvements would include better security at the park, and described the playground has having a bad reputation. Police Patrol Capt. Chad Basque said officers are occasionally called to incidents at the playground, though not frequently.

by Erin Miller, West Hawaii Today, Friday, January 16, 2009

Kailua Playground won't be converted to a dog park after all. County administration and parks representatives said they couldn't support such a change, though they weren't opposed to community members pursuing the law changes necessary to allow a county off-leash dog area.

"There are a couple of places we are trying to look at," West Hawaii District Superintendent Parks Maintenance Deac deCamp said. "There is some discussion and possibility to provide you with a place to go." He initially did not identify any specific locations, but when meeting attendees brought up possibly using Hillcrest Park, deCamp confirmed that the park is a site he would like to use, at least temporarily, as an on-leash site, until a permanent park could be created. The biggest challenge there, putting aside that county law doesn't allow dogs in county parks, would be working with the Little League teams that practice there, deCamp said. Otherwise, the park doesn't appear to be frequently used, he and area residents said.

Tania Orol, who organized dog owners and is one of the driving forces behind Let Us Run Our Dogs, said she liked the idea of Hillcrest Park being a dog park, though she said she would like a permanent, not temporary, designation. Conversations with South Kona Councilwoman Brenda Ford prompted Orol and others to ask Ford to introduce legislation to the County Council that would permit dogs in county parks at a location to be designated later, the first step in getting a county dog park. Currently, county law prohibits allowing any domesticated animals, leashed or not, in county parks. "In the meantime, we're going to look for land," Orol said.

She was frustrated with the KVBID, which approached her several months ago, talking about converting Kailua Playground into a dog park. Orol got a surveyor to create elevation maps of the site and secured donated designs for a park with areas for small and large dogs. Business improvement district officials then approached her less than a week ago, to talk about looking at another site, this one near Royal Poinciana Drive. "They used us and they know it," Orol said. "They used us to get attention for the project they supported."

Though KVBID members tried to keep the conversation focused on proposed improvements or alternate uses for the park, questions and comments repeatedly returned to the strong desire for a place to allow dogs to play off leash. A majority of the 40 or so people at the meeting, including several who brought dogs despite none being allowed in county parks, remained at the park, even after KVBID representatives left. KVBID representatives previously told West Hawaii Today that they hadn't reviewed the proposed change with Parks and Recreation Department officials because it would have been premature. Though the organization approached Orol, members said in later interviews they weren't necessarily advocating for a dog park, but changes in the playground.

Bobby Command, executive assistant to Mayor Billy Kenoi, suggested dog park supporters continue to look for private property, which would allow them to bypass changing county laws to allow dogs in parks. But, he added, the administration does not oppose community members taking steps for a county dog park, too. "We don't want to see the net loss of any kind of facility," Command said. "The answer is not no. The administration supports all kinds of activities, include dog parks. It's just how to make it work."