PROVIDENCE — A vocal critic of the Board of Parks Commissioners was arrested yesterday after he continued to interrupt a board meeting at the Roger Williams Park Casino where a controversial plan for a dog park at the Dexter Training Ground was being discussed.

Charles Pinning of 110 Messer St. was handcuffed and placed in a police cruiser. He was charged with disorderly conduct, simple assault and resisting arrest. No court date was available last night.

The focus of the board’s meeting was reconsideration of a previous vote to have the dog park near the Cranston Street Armory in the West End. The board’s earlier decision to create the fenced area in what had been a baseball field had irritated a number of neighborhood residents who said they used the ball field.

The commissioners were ordered to reconsider their original decision after the attorney general’s office ruled that the board had violated the state Open Meetings Law by failing to file with the secretary of state’s office public notices preceding several board meetings where the matter was discussed and subsequently voted upon. To correct the violations, the attorney general said that the commissioners must take a fresh look at the dog park decision by May 31.

Yesterday, the commissioners did that and affirmed their previous vote to have the dog park.

Pinning and Judith Reilly, another neighborhood resident, filed the Open Meetings complaint with the attorney general’s office in March. The dog park has become a divisive issue in the West End, pitting neighbor against neighbor, dog lovers against baseball aficionados and newcomers against long-time residents.

Yesterday, the dozen speakers seemed equally divided between those who favor preserving the baseball diamond and those who want to see it transformed into a dog run.

“The dog park is really for people,” said Denise Gibson, a newcomer to the West End. “That’s where I met most of my friends. Is it possible for the kids to play baseball some where else?”

Tom Roach, another new arrival to the neighborhood and a Brown professor, said the social aspect of the dog park has helped make him feel part of the community.

But opponents said the baseball diamond is popular with neighborhood children, who have few opportunities to hone their skills elsewhere. A few days ago, 20 children were playing a pickup baseball game in the park, one neighbor said.

Pinning, who has led the opposition to the dog park, presented a petition supposedly signed by 200 people supporting the continued presence of the ball field. When Pinning launched into a personal attack on a member of the audience, Mayor David N. Cicilline, who chairs the parks board , interrupted him and said, “I will not allow you to belittle a member of the city. It’s unfair.”

When another resident said that she would love to see the whole city become a dog park, Pinning jumped in and said, “Why don’t you gas the children!”

At that point, Cicilline threatened to remove Pinning from the meeting.

Pinning did say that about 40 residents gathered last week to discuss a possible solution to the matter. The consensus, he said, was that the Dexter Training Ground is large enough to accommodate both dogs and children.

“No final vote is required today,” said Judith Reilly, another board critic. “We ask that you rescind your original vote and work with us. There is no reason why anyone should lose out.”

Cicilline agreed with the speakers who said that it is both unhealthy and unsafe to have dogs and children sharing the same space, which is what happens now. He said that he has yet to receive a letter from the baseball league or from a parent expressing their opposition to the proposed location of the dog park. (Actually, a former baseball league coach spoke in favor of preserving the ball field, saying that children have very little opportunity to practice outside of the formal league games).

“I question the validity of the petition,” Cicilline said. “I come down in favor of using that area as a dog park. That’s what the neighborhood wants.”

Cicilline then made a motion to ratify the board’s previous decision and the commissioners voted 7-1 in favor of the dog park, with Councilman Miguel Luna abstaining.

After Pinning was arrested, Reilly called the commission’s decision a “terrible tragedy,” adding that a reasonable compromise could have been reached that would satisfy all parties.

“I think they made the decision that they needed to make at this time,” said another resident, Baruch Sachs. “It doesn’t preclude future conversations.”

lborg@projo.com