By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
A community engagement meeting regarding the forthcoming Pacific Palisades Dog Park project will take place on Monday, October 21, from 6 to 7 p.m. at Palisades Branch Library.
“Come join the Office of Councilwoman Traci Park and the city of Los Angeles Department of Recreation & Parks to learn about this incoming amenity for our beloved dogs,” read information shared by Park about the meeting, which will take place in the community room. “After years of community advocacy, we’ve worked hard to secure funding for this long-time community priority, and we’re excited to see the project move forward. We hope that you can join us to learn more.”
The idea for an off-leash dog park in Pacific Palisades dates back nearly three decades—with an advocacy group, including Leslie Campbell, Carol Ross and Lynn Miller in 2017 called Pacific Palisades Dog Park Working Group, taking charge in recent years.
Before the group was formed, Campbell began a petition drive to establish a dog park in the Palisades that garnered almost 4,000 signatures after the Barrington Dog Park was threatened with closure over land use by the VA, which owns the space, in 2015.
During a Parks Needs Assessment undertaken by the County of LA at the same time, the Palisades and Brentwood were grouped together, according to information shared by the dog park group, with Miller representing the Palisades. A dog park in the Palisades was ranked the No. 1 need during the assessment, according to the group.
In 2017, then-Councilmember Mike Bonin passed a motion establishing the Pacific Palisades Dog Park Working Group, which was tasked with finding land in the Palisades for the park. After looking into alternate locations—including Simon Meadow, Will Rogers State Beach, Will Rogers State Historic Park and others—it was deemed and then approved that a space owned by Rec & Parks near the base of Temescal Canyon Road would be the best place for it, which was later supported by the community.
“We had researched every other possible location for this dog park,” Ross said. “So there had been a lot of research that had gone into it.”
Plans include small and large dog areas, totaling 33,255 square feet, according to a Rec & Parks board report. The project scope, according to the report, is to “create a new off-leash dog park, including new fencing, path of travel (concrete path, entry plaza), synthetic surfacing, landscaping (trees, irrigation, mulch), security lighting, [and] site amenities (shade structure, hydration station, benches, trash receptacles, dog agility equipment).”
“The dog park will be funded by Measure A,” the flyer for the community engagement meeting read.
Measure A funds, derived from an annual special tax on properties, are administered by the County of LA Regional Park and Open Space District Annual Allocation Program after being requested by the Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners.
“When Measure A came on the scene, I went to all of the formation meetings and kept asking: ‘Does this fund dog parks? Does this fund dog parks?’” Miller explained. “So when it came to them defining their scope, they did include dog parks, which is great for us.”
Campbell and Miller met around that time during a Rec & Parks outreach meeting regarding Measure A in Brentwood. There were printouts of different ways to use the funding, Campbell explained, so she crafted a sign that said “dog park,” which was “packed with yellow stickers” placed by community members who were noting what they wanted to see the funds used for.
The Pacific Palisades Dog Park Working Group first announced during a Pacific Palisades Recreation Center Park Advisory Board meeting on January 25 that $1.5 million in Measure A funds would be requested by Rec & Parks to be designated to create the proposed dog park. This request was approved in September, Miller said.
The members of the dog park group thanked Park at the time for her aid in making the request happen—as the proposed dog park was one of her campaign promises made to Campbell ahead of her election.
“For decades, residents of the Palisades have been fighting for a dog park,” Park wrote on Instagram following the January 18 Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners meeting where the funding request was unanimously approved. “I’m so excited to announce that today, we are one step closer. Today, the RAP Commission approved our request for funding to move this project forward.”
To obtain Measure A funds, the group needed community input and approval before the application, which included a February 2018 meeting at Palisades Recreation Center to review the site location, design and obtain community suggestions, according to the dog park group, which garnered support from the Park Advisory Board and more than 100 attendees at the meeting at the time. The dog park was later supported by Pacific Palisades Community Council.
Following the upcoming community engagement meeting—as well as a second meeting in the future—the project is anticipated to go out to bid, Miller explained, and additional details will be narrowed down. Pacific Palisades Dog Park Working Group said they are hoping the project is completed in 2025, but that it may be early 2026.
“We’ve had phenomenal support,” Ross said of the project.
Questions regarding the meeting can be directed to Pacific Palisades Field Deputy for CD 11 Michael Amster: michael.amster@lacity.org. To RSVP for the October 21 meeting, visit forms.gle/r7eyNCB6TQyciX7K6.
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