Support growing for dog park

by Terry Duffy
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, June 13, 2009

Discussions for an off-leash dog park in Lewiston picked up momentum, as a small group of residents gathered Wednesday at St. Peter's School to hear ideas, exchange views, and set a plan to follow with the goal of turning what is now a wish for some into a reality for thousands of area dog lovers.

"The initial group of dog owners was very enthusiastic about the prospect of a Lewiston dog park," remarked Molly Chamberlain, who, along with pet groomer Andre Bell of Grandpaws Place has been spearheading the idea over past months. Wednesday's more-than-one-hour-long session saw roughly a dozen on hand - all professed dog lovers -- and area officials, including St. Peter's pastor, the Rev. Sebastian Pierro; Lewiston Police Chief Chris Salada; and Niagara County Legislator John Ceretto, R-12th District. Ceretto was the first to sign on as the new Lewiston Dog Owners Group formed that night.

All dog owners spoke of positive instances of experiencing dedicated dog park settings in other towns and cities - noting such examples as a privately run venture in Shaggy Pines, Mich., to successful municipal dog parks in Columbus, Ohio, and New York City.

"A dog park is an attractive entity; a nice community event," said Bell, pointing out its benefits to a community range from accurate dog license counts, to revenues, to quality of life attributes for residents.

All on hand agreed on the need for such a park; the question remained - how to get it done, and in Lewiston. As reported in last week's Sentinel, both Chamberlain and Bell have had discussions with local officials on the idea - including Village of Lewiston Trustee Bill Geiben, Town of Lewiston Supervisor Fred Newlin and Highway Superintendent Steve Reiter. All expressed varying degrees of interest, with Newlin considering the legal aspects of such a plan, and Reiter considering the actual on-site doability of such an offering in Lewiston's parks system, which includes parks in the Village of Lewiston.

Ceretto, a former town councilman, offered some perspective on what the group may be facing in terms of building community support by recalling a new venture the town was considering back in the mid-1990s -- a skate park -- and how support was organized for that idea to become reality. "With that, we were trying to fit a group that's outside the norm," said Ceretto of the skate park - one that was popular in other communities, but unheard of in Lewiston. "You have to establish a plan, establish a need."

Both Chamberlain and Bell agreed. "It is critical that we gauge and document community interest," said Chamberlain, a Lewiston businesswoman. She reports that, in coming weeks, the newly-formed Lewiston Dog Owners Group will be tasked to gauge community interest on the park en route to its next meeting, which will take place Thursday, June 25, at 7 p.m. in the Village of Lewiston Board Room in the Red Brick Municipal Building, 145 N. Fourth St.

"The group will be asking interested dog owners and members of the community, who are interested in the creation of a Lewiston dog park, to sign petitions," said Chamberlain.

Those petitions are expected to be available at various Center Street locations and area businesses in coming days.

A PDF version of the petition can be found here. Residents are invited to view the petition. Completed copies should be returned to the June 25 meeting.

For further information on the dog park, contact Chamberlain at molly@greatlakesre.com or Bell at info@grandpawsplace.com.