King County officials plan to craft preliminary designs for an off-leash dog park at the newly purchased Wax Orchard property off of Old Mill Road, offering it up as a pilot project for community input before finalizing their plans.

County park officials met with 10 constituents at the site earlier this month where they discussed how to create a dog park in a way that would address several concerns, including potential impacts to groundwater and a nearby freshwater pond and potential conflicts with equestrian users of the property.

Were it to come to fruition, the Wax Orchard dog park would be the first off-leash park on Vashon and only the second in unincorporated King County. A group called FIDO and other dog owners have been advocating for an off-leash park on Vashon for nearly a decade.

“This is our best opportunity in years,” said Ethan Russo, vice president of FIDO (which stands for Friends Into Dogs Organization). “I’m cautiously optimistic something will happen.”

The county, however, cannot proceed on designs for an off-leash park without updating county code, which currently allows for only one off-leash park in unincorporated King County. County officials submitted a set of code revisions to the King County Council earlier this month, in part so as to open the door to an off-leash dog park on Vashon, according to Joe Inslee, a project manager at King County Parks.

Inslee added that the county will seek additional input from islanders before constructing a dog park at the site. Should a park be built, he added, it would be minimally developed and considered a pilot to see how it works.

“We are working toward a more clear design option, or set of options, of what this pilot dog park could look like so we can conduct additional community outreach,” he said in an email. “During the first round of engagement, we heard some very clear concerns (i.e., equestrian vs. dog), and we would like to see if we can develop a potential design to help address these issues before conducting additional broader outreach.”

Some neighbors, however, are already concerned with the process, noting that area residents — some of whom have lived near the Wax Orchard site for decades — were not among those invited to the onsite meeting this month where the county and constituents discussed plans for the newly acquired property.

“Here we are planning a pilot before determining if the site is appropriate and before the (change to the county code) has even been approved,” said Laurie Geissinger, who lives nearby. “It’s pretty easy for people to hear that this is a done deal and for FIDO to believe they have more commitment than they do.”

Geissinger and Jil Stenn, another neighbor, reached out to the county after they learned of the meeting and shared some of their concerns. Among their requests, they said, is for the county to conduct a thorough assessment that considers the cultural, historic and natural values of the site before building a dog park. They also asked the county for a list of other sites that have been considered, why they were rejected and how Wax Orchard became the favored site.

“We want there to be an open and transparent public process,” said Stenn, who is in the process of forming a “friends” group for the Wax Orchard park. “And if they go forward, we want them to use best practices and to take into account the attributes of this historically, culturally and ecologically rich landscape.”

King County purchased the 110-acre parcel for $4 million in October 2022, a move that thrilled many islanders because of the property’s iconic beauty and rich history; other portions of the estate — formerly Misty Isle Farms, which had been owned by the late Tom Stewart — had recently been subdivided and sold.

The popular Vashon Sheepdog Classic has been held for years on one end of the sweeping pasture that stretches along Old Mill Road; it will likely be held there again later this year, Inslee said. The property is also well-known because of Stewart, a businessman and Republican donor who built a large house on his property where he hosted high-profile political gatherings.

Long used by equestrians and neighbors, the property includes four miles of trails through 63 acres of forests. Another 47 acres is formerly farmed pasture. One trail skirts Ernst Pond, named after Frank Ernst, who farmed a portion of the land for decades before selling it to Stewart.

Last March, after purchasing the property, the county held a public online meeting to discuss the site’s future. More than 100 attended, several of whom called for a dog park, saying the absence of an off-leash area is difficult for island dog owners. Others raised concerns, especially equestrians who said dog-horse encounters can be dangerous for horseback riders and feared the site could become a magnet for dog walkers.

Still, others spoke about the beauty of the land — especially the wide-open pasture along Old Mill Road — and said fences and the other infrastructure that accompany a dog park would mar an iconic landscape.

Shortly after that meeting, the county issued a survey about potential uses for the land. When asked about a dog park at the site, 66 percent agreed or strongly agreed with that usage, while 23 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed.

Inslee said the county is committed to managing the property as a multi-use site while trying to make it work as an off-leash dog park. “We continue to believe that Wax Orchard is the most suitable place within our King County network of parks on the island for a dog park,” he said.

Several steps could be taken to minimize conflict between horses and dogs, such as creating separate entrances into the park and maintaining a distance between the fenced area for dogs and the trails horseback riders would likely use. “We know physical separation is important, as well as good sightlines to make sure horses don’t get startled,” he said.

A pilot project, he added, would enable the county to get a sense of how the property is used. “We look forward to seeing the use pattern and what the maintenance issues would be,” he said.

Of the 10 people who met with the county earlier this month, two were representatives of the Vashon-Maury Island Horse Association — Marie Bradley and Craig Harmeling. Both said they were open to a dog park at the site but said they plan to act as conduits, bringing the county’s ideas to the horse association to see if other equestrians have concerns.

Also attending were island conservationists, including Rayna Holtz, who said she spoke about the potential impact a dog park could have on the groundwater and wildlife. Ernst Pond, she said, is a nesting site for ducks; several raptors are known to nest in the forest adjacent to the pasture.

“I love the idea of a dog park, and I think it can happen there,” Holtz said. “But we need to plan and find ways to screen all that runoff and manage water flow. … A pilot would give us a chance to assess that potential harm.”

Advocates for the dog park, meanwhile, said they’re hopeful they might finally have a place to let their dogs run off-leash. Russo has two golden retrievers, one of whom is very energetic. “He’ll run laps in our yard,” he said. “He loves other dogs and doesn’t have the opportunity to interact.”

The county has said the site would be no larger than three acres. Russo said he believes islanders should keep the proposal in context. “We’re talking about three acres out of a holding of 110 acres.”

Sylvia Soholt, another FIDO representative who attended the meeting, said she and other dog owners want the project to be a success. Should it go forward, she said, FIDO members are determined to demonstrate to the county and other islanders that Vashon dog owners can steward such a place responsibly and solve problems that arise.

But she also said it’s important that a dog park has strong island support.

“We don’t want to do this in the face of a lot of objections,” Soholt added. “We want this to be something the community can endorse.”

Leslie Brown is a former editor of The Beachcomber.