KERNVILLE, Calif. (KERO) — The debate over a new dog park in the mountain community of Kernville is on.
“Dog parks are not for everybody but people get to exercise and socialize their dogs, and it’s great,” said Robbie Miller with SOS Dog Rescue.
Miller and Gary Ananian with the Kern River Conservancy have been working for years to bring a dog park to the area. But not everyone is too keen on the plan.
“Would they think its such a great idea if it was 50 feet from their front lawn?” Said Lynne Larsen, a mobile home resident who lives across the street from the property.
Miller and Ananian have been looking to add a designated dog park for years but have struggled due a lack of vacant properties. Thanks to the Kernville Chamber of Commerce, though, they’ve found their spot.
“I believe it’s been two years we’ve been talking and it just didn’t pan out,” Miller said.
Along with the dog park, the property includes 35 acres, which Ananian says the conservancy wants to transform into a picnic area, a nature trail, and include educational exhibits. He said groups have come to help prepare the area for all the new recreational activity.
Larsen says that all sounds great, except the dog park.
“We’re mostly dog-lovers ourselves, I think I should say that, but there are a lot of liabilities with dog parks and the proximity is a primary concern,” she said.
The property is located roughly 50 feet from the mobile home park. Much closer than the chamber’s arena or baseball field where Larsen says people tend to take their dogs now.
“I don’t think most of us are too keen that they’re just going to move the problem across the street a great deal closer to us,” she said.
23ABC reached out to the Kern County Planning Department about what needs to happen for the project to move forward. They said that the area is zoned for highway commercial use, meaning the chamber will have to apply for a zoning change for conditional use. Once they do so the department will begin public hearings.
“We’ve heard concerns about about liability, noise, and pollution, but we’re taking every measure every concern that’s been brought up, we are working with the county to do everything properly,” said Ananian.
Ananian says projects like educational exhibits on the trail and the picnic area can be funded through grants but not the dog park, which is why they’re asking the community for help. Ananian and Miller are fundraising, hoping to utilize upcoming Whiskey Flats to draw attention to the project.
Larsen says she’s concerned by the active fundraising while they still wait for approval from the county.
“We’re not living in a concrete jungle where people don’t have plenty of options to exercise their pets," she said.
