Initially four parks were considered in District 9, but the field was narrowed to Kirk Park or Camden Community Center Park in March. The final choice was made after a meeting at the Camden Community Center Park on May 15.

The site was chosen because the percentage of area going to a dog park at Camden is smaller than it would have been at Kirk, said Tim McCullough, an assistant to council member Judy Chirco. There will still be more open ground at Camden.

Another factor, which aided the Camden selection, is a new high-density housing development slated for construction at Foxworthy and Meridian avenues.

McCullough says the city anticipates a greater multipurpose demand at Kirk Park once the development is completed.

"We don't know how many people will be using Kirk as their neighborhood park," McCullough said.

He also said he received a lot more calls from people opposing a dog park at Kirk Park and only two with concerns about a dog park at the Camden Community Center.

McCullough said another reason for the decision to build a dog park at the Camden site was that the dog run could be placed further away from people's fences. At Kirk Park, the dog run would be closer to the homes.

One resident who lives near Kirk Park, but didn't want to give his name, told the Willow Glen Resident he was concerned about a dog park at Kirk Park. He wants Kirk Park to have open access for everyone rather than fencing in an area just for dog owners to run their pet off leash, he says.

He also emailed a link to a website—www.epeus.com/dog.html—where he listed reasons to oppose dog parks including potential problems with feces and dog attacks.

He stated that Camden Park was the logical choice because it has a lot of open grass. And added that Kirk Park was a poor choice because of its the proximity to housing and its already heavy usage.

Finances also favored the Camden Community Center location.

Funding that was set aside from the residential developments has already been allocated for the Camden Community Center Park, McCullough said. The developer is required to pay a certain percentage per unit to help develop parkland.

The dog run space at Camden will be less costly because it will be part of a larger renovation already planned for the park. The city of San Jose is also planning to redo the play lot and other areas at community center, McCullough said.

McCullough is also in the process of reworking the master plan for the Kirk Community Center and park. Although there won't be renovations at Kirk Park, city staff is going to see whether it makes more sense to offer certain programs at Camden Community Center rather than Kirk Community Center, McCullough said.

Not everyone is pleased with the decision to implement the dog run at Camden Community Center Park. Bill Brown lives near Kirk Park and has been pushing to have a dog park there since January.

"It's not so much that a dog park was selected at Camden that disappointed us, it's the fact that that we Kirk supporters did not have a final meeting to express our views and feelings about the issue," Brown said. "When asked about Kirk at the recent Camden meeting we were told there would be a Kirk meeting at Kirk. This did not happen. The decision was made."

But McCullough said he was unaware that another meeting was scheduled at Kirk Park.

In August or September, the San Jose Parks Department staff will meet again at both sites. They will discuss the study to be done at Kirk Park and the renovations at Camden Community Center Park.

They will alert the neighbors in both locations with fliers beforehand and bring a set of plans for the new improvements to the Camden Community Center Park. McCullough said he estimates the dog run will be about 10,000 square feet.