Question: Shame on the city for calling what happened at the CORP dog park “vandalism” (808ne.ws/ 64kline). They should know it was dog owners taking care of the park because the city failed to do so! Park users pulled weeds, carefully removed potentially toxic mushrooms and planted grass in a few places that had eroded because of broken sprinklers. If park users sprayed vinegar it was to kill weeds and it didn’t make anybody sick (dogs or people). Now the city has punished this close-knit community by closing the park. And it told the public to call police if they witness future “vandalism.” Auwe! This is so wrong. When will the park reopen?
Answer: You are one of several readers who disputed the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation’s description of events at the off-leash dog park within Patsy T. Mink Central O‘ahu Regional Park, which closed Wednesday for an indefinite period while workers restore the grass and make other repairs. The dog park may be closed for months.
The department said in a news release June 2 that the closure was the result of vandalism involving the unauthorized spraying of a vinegar solution that killed the grass. Dog owners were incensed to be depicted as vandals. They said the park could still be open if the city had taken care of it as promised (maintenance that was supposed to occur every Wednesday is spotty, they say); that the vinegar solution was aimed at weeds; and that parks staff didn’t respond to complaints about overgrown weeds, uncut grass, broken sprinklers and other problems — driving some dog owners to try to maintain the park themselves.
We shared these concerns with Nate Serota, a spokesperson for the department. Here is his emailed response:
“All of the City’s off-leash dog parks are maintained on at least a weekly basis. If you go to a City dog park you’ll see a sign indicating a certain day and time when the facility is closed for maintenance. (During regular operations), this occurs on Wednesdays at the Patsy T. Mink Central O‘ahu Regional Park dog park, with additional field work, like fertilizing and other treatments, done as needed.
“The rehabilitation of the dog park (began Wednesday). This includes fertilizing and treating the field with a more selective herbicide as well as placing sod on some of the exposed dirt areas. By closing the dog park, and eliminating the daily foot/paw traffic, the time needed to restore the grass may be reduced. Still, we are anticipating the restoration process to take a couple of months. We are utilizing this closure to also inspect the irrigation system and make some other repairs as needed.
“We believe characterizing this act as vandalism is accurate. Someone sprayed an unauthorized substance on public property without permission. Regardless of their intentions, it resulted in damage to a public facility in the way of dead and dying grass.
“However, this closure is not a punishment of this unauthorized activity. We need the facility closed so we can treat the grass with herbicide and fertilizers, which cannot be done when the area is open to the public. We will provide more detailed updates on the reopening timetable for the dog park as they become available.
“We looked in our system for past complaints, and spoke with park staff, and were not able to find records of anything being sent in. We really encourage park users to give us a call or email us with their concerns so we can better track dealing with the issue. For the department itself, or if you are unsure which park staff to contact, call 808- 768-3003 or email parks@ honolulu.gov. The Honolulu 311 application is also a great way to report park issues. For CORP staff, please call 808-768-6934 or email dprdistrictV@honolulu.gov.
“One thing is certain, this situation has shown us that the users of this dog park are very passionate about this facility. We absolutely want park users to be motivated to help care for our public spaces, but sometimes those efforts just need a bit of direction. We hope to establish a better understanding with our dog park users, and see if there’s something we can work on together in the coming future. This will likely involve something like an Adopt a Park agreement, where we can clearly outline how they can properly help maintain the dog park at a level that is satisfactory to their needs.
“This facility is our newest off-leash dog park, opened in late 2020 with assistance from the late Council Chair Ron Menor, and in many cases community groups or non-profits help with maintenance of dog parks. This is certainly something we are encouraging at CORP.”
Note: Kokua Line called and emailed CORP staff on Friday to confirm the contact information provided. We received no response to our email, and couldn’t leave a phone message, because the voicemail was full.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
