By Charles Axilbund
Your support for (limiting) L.A. residents at the new airport dog park is extremely shortsighted (“Someone should stick a muzzle on Rosendahl,” May 10). Other local cities welcome all southern California residents to their facilities. Culver City, with a dog park almost exactly the size of the airport facility, welcomes Mar Vista residents and told them so. El Segundo’s beautiful dog park is open to all. L.A.’s parks are even open to Santa Monicans. Santa Monica residents can and do use the crowded Westminster dog park in Venice. Santa Monica residents use Griffith Park, have been sighted at Travel Town, take their dogs to Runyon Canyon and have plots at the L.A. run Oceanview Gardens. Should Los Angeles ban Santa Monica residents from these facilities on pain of a $150 fine?
Your beef should be with the city of Santa Monica. What rational planning agency would choose a site for the first new park in 24 years that is about a mile from the nearest residence in the city? Banning L.A. residents who live across the street is not the way to make up for what is, frankly, one of the stupidest bits of urban planning to come down the pike in many years.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 15, 2007. Read the original PDF.