Updated: Voters Reject Dog Park at Happy Landings 3:1

In similar fashion to , Brookfield residents voted almost 3:1 against in Tuesday’s referendum vote. The final tally was 1,268 against to 431 in favor, a difference of 837 votes.

The vote in District I, Huckleberry Hill Elementary School (HHES), was 347-151; District II, Brookfield High School (BHS), 902-276; and absentee voters went against the measure 19-4.

All totaled, 1,699 registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s referendum, representing 16.9 percent of Brookfield's 10,030 registered voters.

Similar referendums in recent history — for  and  — had almost 12 percent and 17 percent voter turnout, respectively.

SOKK to Seek New Location

"People got worried that Happy Landings was going to be demolished by this," Supporters of Kanine Kingdom (SOKK) member Lisa Allan said Tuesday night, "But it wasn't."

Allan, who has led the initiative to build a dog park in town along with SOKK co-founder Keith Wolff, said she's not sure what the group's next step will be now that Happy Landings is no longer an option as a location. Despite the overwhelming numbers against the location, Allan said she was surprised to get 431 "yes" votes in Tuesday's referendum and that the turnout in favor "shows there is obviously a want and a need for a dog park."

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Interested in Brookfield news, events, community bulletins, blogs and businesses? Sign up for the free Brookfield Patch daily newsletter, "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

While the result was “disappointing,” Wolff said the committee received “a lot of positive feedback from folks in town” about the idea of a dog park, even if the location was rejected.

With the public land options exhausted, Wolff said the committee will be looking for a “generous local developer to donate an acre, give or take.”

Both Allan and Wolff said SOKK plans to continue their efforts to find the right location, though they will probably take a bit of time to relax and regroup in the meantime. 

"We'll take a break and maybe with all the publicity about it somebody will come with a donation," Allan said, "But we haven't heard anything as of yet."