Hawai'i Kai dog park sought
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
HAWAI'I KAI — Around sunset every evening, at parks around East Honolulu, dogs and their owners converge on school grounds, community parks and empty lots.
They do so illegally because dogs are not allowed in city parks or on school grounds without a leash. Still their owners come, risking a ticket because they want their dogs to run and play.
The dog owners don't want to have to skulk out after dark to have some place for their dogs to run. They're proposing that the city build a dog park off to the makai side of the Keahole Street park-and-ride facility. It's the same site the city had considered and then rejected for a police station. The park and ride provides parking, an irrigation system and has no homes nearby.
"The city is aware of the community's suggestion," said Carol Costa, city spokeswoman. "The community group has offered its assistance, which is important to getting something like this developed."
The idea of building a dog park in Hawai'i Kai will be discussed at the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board meeting at 7 tonight at Haha'ione Elementary School cafeteria. For more information on the meeting, call the Neighborhood Commission at 527-5578.
It would cost the city about $75,000 to $100,000, Costa said, depending on the amount of fencing needed and if water is available.
Meeting tonight
The group of dog owners call themselves Hui 'Ilio Hawai'i. In the two months since they began talking about the need for a dog park in the community, they've collected about 300 signatures on petitions urging the city to support their plan, said Elaine Dobashi, one of the group's organizers. They plan to seek the community's support at 7 tonight at the Hawai'i Kai Neighborhood Board meeting at the Haha'ione Elementary School cafeteria.
Based on 2003 U.S. census figures, there are an estimated 158,000 dogs on O'ahu, with about 8,000 living in East Honolulu, Dobashi said.
"That's a conservative estimate based upon the number of households," she said. "Those dog owners take their dogs to school grounds, parks, on hikes, everywhere they are not allowed."
The dog lovers would like one of the 5-acre sites to be cleared, planted with grass and trees and fenced in, Dobashi said.
"We want an off-leash park that is a safe place for our dogs to have a chance to interact with other dogs," Dobashi said. "Dog parks benefit the community because it's good for everyone if a dog is socialized and gets a chance to interact with other dogs."
Said dog owner Marty Sanders: "Friendships develop, not just between the humans, but between the dogs. It builds a better community."
The group says it will organize regular cleanups and maintenance to help the city, if the park comes through.
"Dog parks all over are intensely used," said Roger Morton, another dog park organizer. "And they're not just used by people in the immediate area, but from all over."
Now, Dobashi and others say they meet illegally in a park they won't name. Two dog owners were issued warnings by police about two months ago, which spurred them into investigating the procedures to getting a dog park built by the city.
The city has said it would like dog parks in each of its four park regions around O'ahu, Costa said. The city runs a dog park in Moanalua and is poised to open another in Mililani Mauka, adjacent to the park and ride. A third is planned for Windward O'ahu, Costa said. In addition, there are two privately run dog parks, one on the slopes of Diamond Head and another at the Humane Society.
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
