A proposed service dog training facility, which proved surprisingly controversial when first announced last year, is trying once more to find a home on Bainbridge Island — albeit in a different location.

Last year’s ill-fated public rollout for an in-the-works Bainbridge location for the island-based branch of the nonprofit Assistance Dogs of Hawaii (ADH), Assistance Dogs Northwest, on a 4.3-acre parcel off of Ridge Lane, was met with opposition from neighbors.

Ultimately, the plan was scrapped.

Now, Assistance Dogs Northwest — which specializes in rearing service dogs for people with profound physical disabilities — is once again in the process of founding a permanent Bainbridge-based facility to serve as their regional headquarters, this time at 12107 Miller Road NE.

Assistance Dogs Northwest said they intend to train just four or five dogs at a time on the property, which is already developed, and includes a “residence, garage and shop,” according to the nonprofit group’s permit application.

The only slated exterior changes to those existing facilities are to “buffer the neighbor to the south and to perform exterior alterations to the buildings to meet handicap accessibility requirements,” according to a summary letter by city senior planner Heather Wright.

Maureen and Will Maurer founded Assistance Dogs of Hawaii in 2000, after moving there from Seattle, and having been stalwart volunteers in the industry.

Applications from the Pacific Northwest were plentiful, however, so they started placing dogs here about seven years ago. They eventually decided it would be helpful to also have a campus and local branch that could support the area. Thus, Assistance Dogs Northwest was born.

The Maurers’ program has graduated more than 50 dogs who have gone on to serve in courthouses, where they comfort child victims or witnesses of crimes; nursing homes and hospitals, where they provide love and companionship to staff and patients; and individual homes, where they anticipate seizures, alert deaf partners to various sounds (smoke alarms, telephones, baby’s crying), and assist partners with physical disabilities (pulling wheelchairs, retrieving out-of-reach objects and turning on lights, etc.).

Though having been based on Bainbridge for some time, Assistance Dogs Northwest had yet to find a suitable location to house a facility. They have worked out of The Montessori Country School during the summer, but have been looking for property for a permanent campus.

The Miller Road location, it seems, fits the bill. The lot is 2.3 acres in size, according to the tax assessor’s office, and the road adjacent is appropriately classified to serve an educational facility of the intended size.

Assistance Dogs Northwest did not respond this week to repeated requests for comment.

For more information, visit www.assistancedogsnorthwest.org.