Group hopes to make parks dog accessible

Mandy Evans is among a group of local dog owners who wants the city to consider a leash law for dogs that would allow owners to walk their dogs in parks, and provide scooper stations for pets. (Photo by RALPH BARTHOLDT)

SANDPOINT — It is more about dog owners than their pets.

The city’s staunch opposition to allowing dogs in its parks could change if a group of dog-friendly residents can persuade city government and neighbors that there is no downside to letting dogs into parks.

The group, called “A More Dog Friendly Sandpoint,” wants the city to allow leashed dogs into the city’s green areas as long as their owners pick up after them.

They want to show people opposed to the idea that dog owners are responsible, and that pets are not the problem.

The city parks department has agreed to a trial run by sending the proposal to city administrators who will decide whether to forward it to city council.

If the city agrees to allow dogs on leashes to use Lakeview Park between June 1 and Oct. 31 as part of a trial period, pet owners will have a chance to sway opinion with their well-behaved pups, and by picking up poop.

That, in essence, is the bottom line, said Mandy Evans, who pushed the proposal forward.

“All this has everything to do with poop,” Evans said.

When she and husband, Rick, moved to Sandpoint a few years ago, Evans noticed there was no place to romp with the family dog, a Shih Tzu named Bentley.

The couple and their small son went on hikes to air Bentley out.

Responsible pet owners could turn things around, she surmised. She and fellow dog owners formed “A More Dog Friendly Sandpoint,” a group with a Facebook page and a cause.

It proposed at this week’s Parks and Rec commission meeting to supply plastic bags at dispensers in the park, a few dog doo stations and signage for pet owners if the department would agree to a trial pet-on-leash project in Lakeview Park.

So far, the cause has fallen on sympathetic ears.

“I’m fully supportive,” Councilmember Stephen Snedden, said. “I like the fact that we’re trying this out.”

Both the Sandpoint Lions and county historical society, which are located at the park, have taken a neutral stance on the proposal. The Kinnikinnick Native Plant Society, which has an arboretum at the Lakeview Park, has taken a wait-and-see attitude.

If the proposal passes, the city will prohibit dogs in the playground and behind the fence of the adjoining sports complex, Kim Woodruff, director of Parks and Rec said. Dogs on leashes — no more than three per person — will be allowed elsewhere in the complex.

Woodruff said he liked the proposal for its slow approach.

“They did not shoot for the moon,” he said. “They are sensitive to others’ concerns.”

Research by the city and the dog group shows several cities, including Whitefish and Missoula, Mont. and Moscow where dogs on leashes allowed in parks pose no issue. In towns such as Seaside, Ore., dogs are a marginal problem because city personnel have to pick up poop if owners fail to.

Having signs and scooper stations, something the Sandpoint proposal includes, minimizes problems, according to the research.

Mark Lockwood, city police chief, reported that Spokane animal control has problems with dog feces in parks.

“But they do not have signage or scooper stations,” Lockwood wrote in his report to the city. “… If it did, it is possible that more people would utilize them to clean up after their dogs.”

Dog fights, altercations between dogs and pedestrians, and damage by dogs will be minimized because of the leash law, Evans said.

“We plan right now working with the chief of police to determine what new ordinance would be for the trial run,” Evans said. 

In addition the group will establish a budget for scooper station.

“We think four to six stations on a post with a plastic waste bag dispensers  and a garbage can,” she said.

The group plans to fund the stations at least for the interim.

“It’s not the dogs, it’s the owners,” Woodruff said.

If the proposal is accepted and the plan passes the trial run, Sandpoint council members can consider the next step, he said.

“Then we can join other dog friendly and responsible communities,” he said.