Politics & Government

City Rejects New Dog Park Plan

Despite saying 'no' to a second off-leash dog area, the parks commission offers residents suggestions for other pet friendly places on the Peninsula.

Last year, a group of residents had an idea they thought the city wouldn't be able to refuse: Let's build a new dog park in San Bruno.

The city's only dog park at Commodore Park, they felt, wasn't cutting it anymore. It was too small for their dogs to run around in and too far away from most of their houses.

A year later, the city has come back with a response: No new dog parks in the city.

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City officials recently decided that the city was too financially strained to spend money on the project and that there wasn't enough consensus to go forward with the plan.

"It's like you don't want to put something in place if three people say, 'We want a fire station next to my house,' and everyone else says, 'No.' Are you going to put it there?" said Community Services Director Randy Schwartz, who oversees the city's parks.

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The discussion isn't permanently closed. For now, the commission is waiting to see how well people respond to San Mateo's new dog park, uniquely placed next to an athletic field, before a final decision is made.

In the meantime, the city recently published a brochure — available on the city's website — that details all the dog parks available to the public in the area, from Daly City to Campbell.

While the decision doesn't satisfy some people's desire to have another dog park, Schwartz said, at least the city can offer suggestions of nearby places that residents might similarly enjoy.

The issue was first brought up last spring when the group approached the city's Parks and Recreation Commission about opening up an off-leash area for dogs at Grundy Park.

The commission spent several months reviewing the proposal as well as looking at more than a dozen possible other sites.

Schwartz said the commission considered several factors:

  • Did the potential site have enough parking?
  • How close was the site to surrounding homes?
  • Was the site owned by the city or would the city have to purchase land?
  • Did the site have proper fencing and access to water?
  • And how close would the site be to kids and existing athletic fields?

In the end, after holding several meetings and hearing from a number of residents who mostly opposed the idea, the commission decided a new park for dogs was not a budget priority for the city — which is facing another shortfall this year — and that there was no other facility in San Bruno that could accommodate all the improvements a dog park would require.

That brings up the issue of what dog owners think is wrong with Commodore dog park.

On a recent visit to Commodore Park, resident Billy Baldwin and his 8-year-old son Tyler were in the dog exercise area playing with their German Shepherd Lexi.

Baldwin said he and many other people use the dog park frequently. But it has a number of issues, he said.

"The park is dirty, it smells, the water facilities for the animals are not comparable to other parks and there's a very big lack of security," Baldwin said. "The problem is, nobody follows the rules here."

South City resident Jose Corral brings his dog to the park everyday because the area is big enough for dogs to play and small enough for owners to keep an eye on their pets if something goes wrong. However, he said, the park is poorly built and rarely maintained properly.

"It's probably one of the better parks in the area," Corral said. "It just needs a little dressing up."

When asked whether San Bruno should add another dog park, both Baldwin and Corral said the idea was hopeful but not necessary. Both said they like using Commodore Park but that it just needs more maintenance and better enforcement of the rules.

Baldwin added that he and a few others proposed asking the city to charge a fee for people to use the dog park, and the money raised could be used for upkeep. Baldwin, a former corrections officer, said he wouldn't even mind standing in front of the gate to collect the fees.

That proposal, however, has yet to get off the ground.


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