City staff considering ways to open park to L.A. canines
SUNSET PARK Dogs in neighboring Mar Vista need no longer peer longingly through the chain link fence that has kept them from joining their Santa Monica peers in a new state-of-the-art dog park.
Three months after the new Airport Park opened to the public on the city’s eastern edge, it appears likely that excluded non-residents and their pets will gain admittance to the off-leash dog park area located within city limits, but close to the West Los Angeles border.
City staffers with the Community and Cultural Services (CCS) division are in the process of drafting a new policy that would altar the current Santa Monica policy barring dogs that aren’t licensed in Santa Monica from using any of the off-leash dog specific areas in the city.
The rule ignited a furor among Mar Vista residents — many of whom live directly across the street from the canine fun land — following the grand opening of Airport Park in April.
The decision to draft a new policy followed a series of public hearings in June and July in which a number of Mar Vista residents requested their pets have access to the dog park.
In the most recent hearing, on July 19, the Recreation and Parks Commission recommended that staff devise a pilot program that would open the dog park for about six months while they assessed whether the changes should be permanent, said Neil Carrey, vice-chairman of the commission.
CCS Director Barbara Stinchfield said she isn’t sure whether she will draft a pilot program with a specific time frame or a policy that would allow non-Santa Monica licensed dogs contingent on certain conditions, such as whether the influx of Mar Vista dogs would have an effect on capacity for Santa Monica pets.
Regardless, any changes would have to be approved by the City Council, which is tentatively scheduled to hear the matter on Sept. 11.
Much of the criticism has centered around the dog park not being fully utilized by Santa Monica residents, appearing to hold plenty of room for outside residents and their dogs.
At its peak, the park has only been filled to more than half its capacity of 45 dogs, according to Stinchfield, who said staff has been monitoring park usage since the opening in late April.
“What we’re trying to gauge is how much more can we have the area used at peak times,” Stinchfield said.
Mar Vista residents seemed cautiously optimistic about the news, hoping that either a pilot program or policy change would be approved.
“This is not final, from what I understand,” said Tom Ponton, a Mar Vista dog owner and member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC). “Hopefully, the Santa Monica City Council will also do the right thing.”
The chairman of the neighborhood group, Rob Kadota, held signs with his daughter at the grand opening of Airport Park, protesting City Hall’s policies.
Kadota was heartened by the support of the Recreation and Parks Commission and spent his Sunday at the Mar Vista Farmers’ Market collecting signatures from more than 50 grateful West LA residents. “We have three large ‘thank you’ posters that we are encouraging Mar Vista residents to express their gratitude for Santa Monica being good neighbors,” Kadota said.
While the commission moved in the direction of backing its neighbors to the east, a number of commissioners expressed they felt Los Angeles City Council member Bill Rosendahl — who led the charge in criticizing City Hall for its policy — should identify spaces in his own district to open dog parks, Carrey said.
“Just as we feel commitment towards our residents, the city of LA should have some concern for their residents,” Carrey said.
There are several dog parks within Rosendahl’s 11th district, including ones in Brentwood and Venice. Rosendahl serves approximately 270,000 constituents in this district.
Nicole Velasquez, the field deputy for Mar Vista, is currently looking at two to three neighborhood locations where a dog park could possibly be built, according to Rosendahl.
With all the issues facing both the cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica — such as the California Incline bridge replacement project, noise and fumes from Santa Monica Airport and Westside gridlock — it’s nice to see that city officials from both sides can come together to address the dog park controversy, Rosendahl said.
“This gesture means a lot to me in the spirit of coopera-tion,” Rosendahl said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 31, 2007. Read the original PDF.