Park plan pooped out?

After getting the initial go-ahead from Denver Parks and Recreation and investing almost $100,000 of his life savings into his new business, the 31-year-old founder of Poo Free Parks — a company that would have installed advertiser-supported dog waste dispensers in Denver parks at no cost to the taxpayer — says he has been told by the city department’s head, who previously signed a draft contract approving the idea, that the plan is now on indefinite hold.  

Denver Parks and Recreation Manager Kevin Patterson’s office told Poo Free Parks (PFP) founder Bill Airy in May that “it is safe to proceed spending money on supplies in order to get the project moving forward,” according to Airy. The city department originally planned on allowing PFP to install, maintain and service dog waste dispensers in up to 10 Denver parks.  The installations would have been part of a pilot program that, if deemed successful, could have been expanded citywide. 

“I thought it was the perfect plan to provide jobs and clean up the parks and further Denver’s image of being a green-oriented community,” Airy said. “This is my way of giving back to my community, and I’ve been through the ringer. I never, ever thought in one million years that this would have been an issue.”

Denver Parks and Recreation yesterday said in a statement that the draft contract and proposal are now on hold. At a Parks and Recreation advisory board meeting held earlier this month, the board — which previously recommended moving forward with the pilot program — recommended revising the current sponsorship policy, as advised by the City Attorney prior to implementing new programming ideas like PFP.  

Although Patterson signed a draft contract with Airy, he didn’t sign the final draft of the contract. Additionally, several other community leaders — including Mayor John Hickenlooper — also had to sign off on the idea before it became official.

“It’s just not important enough to the city as other things are,” said Airy.

Opposition

Larry Ambrose of the Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation (INC) led the opposition against PFP. Ambrose and several other INC members argued that allowing advertisers to put their slogans on the dog waste dispensers could lead to a slippery slope of widespread advertising in the parks, which is against the city charter. 

“You might as well start putting up billboards, painting ads on the walking paths and putting signs on the trees,” said INC member Dave Felice last month.

However, Airy said that the contract made it clear that there is “no possible way for the slippery slope” to happen. City Attorney Patrick Wheeler seemingly backed his claim, saying in a memorandum to Patterson that the program would be acceptable under the city charter’s sponsorship policy, though he recommended that the city review that policy.

Airy said that in his opinion, Ambrose and select INC members have made it their mission to distort the truth about PFP. He added that their stance was not the norm, and that almost everyone he talked with was on his side.

“These guys go way overboard, not because they are trying to further a cause, or because they believe in something that they want to see in their community, but because they’re against certain things, whatever those things may be,” he said. “There’s no rhyme and there’s no reason.”

 For his part, Ambrose said that he and his associates are not “jumping up and down with joy” now that PFP has seemingly been killed. He said it’s now time for the INC to follow through with their proposal to Denver Parks and Recreation to conduct a public awareness campaign on responsible dog ownership. 

The INC could fill existing containers with recycled bags, add containers with bags where necessary, and persuade dog owners to clean up after their dogs, he said. A meeting between the INC and Denver Parks and Recreation had not been made as of yesterday afternoon.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us now,” he said. “We said we had an alternative, and we’re prepared to move forward with that.”

Meanwhile, Airy is talking with other cities that have expressed interest in PFP. He hopes that he will be able to put to use the 225 dispensers, 400 signs, three crates full of biodegradable bags and dozens of other tools he was hoping to utilize in Denver. 

“I’m hurt, I’m financially in a bad spot. I’ve got a 19-month-old baby here and my wife and I and we’re stuck in a bad economy,” he said. “Here I am taking a risk on my city… and I’ve got almost every dime I’ve ever saved up spent on this project, and now it’s sitting in the garage.”