For at least the third time, Renton officials have decided that dogs – even on a leash – aren’t a good fit for Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park, even a small part of it.

The City Council was briefed Monday on a months-long review of a request by dog owner Marlene Winter, who lives near the park on Lake Washington with husband Roger, to let dogs walk on a leash on part of a trail in the park’s north end.

Winter, who walks regularly with Barry, their cocker spaniel, offered to daily clean up, with the help of volunteers, any dog waste on the trail not picked up by dog owners.

She would even pay some of the costs to buy plastic mitts to pick up the waste.

But her offer wouldn’t cover all the potential costs the city could face, including sending animal-control officers to the park to deal with human-dog confrontations.

The city estimated one-time costs at about $1,570 and hundreds more each year, including to clean up dog waste.

Winter raised the issue at a City Council meeting in December. Terry Higashiyama, the city’s community services administrator, said the city would fully review the request and engage all park users in the discussion.

A survey showed park users were “very closely split” on allowing leashed dogs on the trail in Coulon, according to a city staff report. The survey wasn’t considered a vote on the matter.

“People are very passionate about their dogs,” said Higashiyama at Monday’s council meeting. “People are also very passionate about Coulon park.”

In the survey dog owners commented the park is convenient to their homes and believe that most dog owners would clean up after their pets. Others raised safety issues, including the potential that dogs could jump on park-goers or harm wildlife in the park.

After its review, the Community Services Department recommended to park-board commissioners that the ban on dogs in the park remain in place. The ban also applies to Kennydale Beach Park, also on Lake Washington and the only other city park with beach swimming.

The board on June 15 agreed unanimously with that recommendation.

The council wasn’t required to act on the matter, but council President Don Persson thanked city staff for thoroughly reviewing the issue.

Some of the key points city staff made:

• The city allows dogs on a leash at 27 of the 29 developed parks, 4 1/2 miles of Cedar River Trail and more than 800 acres of open-space areas.

• The trail suggested for the on-leash walks is 8-feet wide, making it difficult to keep dogs and other users separate.

• Renton partners with other cities in South King County on the Grandview Dog Park in Seatac.

• The off-leash dog park opened in June 2009 across the Cedar River from the Renton Community Center. (Marlene Winter was a driving force behind its creation.)

Persson and Higashiyama referred to Winter as being “very gracious” in her discussions with the city.