Dog park comes to Rancho Palos Verdes
Dick and Liz Cantine walk with their dog Ralphy at Fred Hesse Community Park. The new temporary dog park will be located just down the road at City Hall. Photo by David Rosenfeld
They’ve heard the heated arguments. They’ve witnessed the packed city council chambers any time an issue with dogs appears on the agenda.
In other words, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes got the message that people want a place to let their dogs run off-leash, which they currently do not have in any official sense.
The first sanctioned dog park will come to RPV later this month on a small field adjacent to City Hall off Hawthorne Boulevard.
“This is an example of local government at its best,” said Councilman Brian Campbell. “People have been crying out for this and staff jumped on it and we’re doing it.”
Council members sat through hours of testimony earlier this year over the merits of an official off-leash dog beach below Terranea Resort. It approved a pilot program only to rescind the effort a month later after the beach was swarmed with visitors.
City officials had been trying to work with Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe’s office to find funding to create a dog park on a landfill site near Ernie Howlett Park, but those efforts will likely take several years.
For now, the county is building an off-leash dog park in La Crescenta, the first county-operated dog park of its kind.
“Even once it’s open they want to run it for a year before they make any decisions about establishing any additional dog parks,” said Carolyn Petru, deputy city manager.
City staffers also took a stab at establishing a park at Fred Hesse Community Park, but the idea faced opposition from neighbors. The site adjacent to City Hall is meant to be a temporary dog park, though it could last at least two years until a larger site is selected. The temporary site is about a half-acre in size. Later this month, city staff will erect a small fence to officially establish the park.
“We know certainly there’s a pent up demand for an off leash dog park on the peninsula,” Petru said. “We’ve certainly seen that whenever it’s come up on a council agenda.”
Dog owners Dick and Liz Cantine said they were looking forward to a place to let their retriever Ralphy run free.
“Most people regard their pets as family members,” said Liz Cantine. “I think it’s wonderful.” ER