Back to the Table of Contents Page

Back to the Weekly Home Page

Classifieds

Publication Date: Friday, October 25, 2002

Is Nielsen Park going to the dogs?

Some dog owners near Nielsen Park are delighted with the prospect of letting their pets off leash in a fenced dog exercise area being considered there. But other neighbors are alarmed at the proposal, fearing for their children's safety.

A group of parents pleaded with the City Council last week to have city staff stop considering Nielsen Park and to find another place for the dog area.

"If this goes through it is a real pity that kids will not be able to play in their own park," said Anne Fox of Garden Creek Circle, whose son Jared is 10 months old. Her group presented a diagram comparing the 5-acre Nielsen Park, where the exercise area would be located within 40 feet of the tot lot, and 14-acre Muirwood Park, where the successful off-leash area built in 1999 is some 600 feet from the playground.

"We think dog parks are adult areas," Fox said later. She also worries about children witnessing confrontations between aggressive dogs - or owners - noting that a dog fight in a dog park in Boulder, Colo., resulted in a dog being killed.

Mike Fulford, city landscape architect, said staff has been considering places for additional dog exercise areas for a long time because Muirwood has been so successful. It did reports on Mission Hills and Tawny parks, but the Parks and Recreation Commission rejected both sites because they border homes. The location at Nielsen, which is on Stoneridge Drive east of Santa Rita, is next to an empty lot belonging to St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church.

Fulford said meetings with Nielsen neighbors have "produced a lively exchange of ideas and information." "Some had suggestions for making what we had drawn better," he said. "Some are dead set against it at any cost."

Ignacio Martin of Eileen Drive is coordinating neighbors in favor of it. He owns two wire-haired fox terriers and walks them in the park every morning and late afternoon.

"I think it would be a good place to socialize dogs and for dog owners to socialize," he said. "It creates a nice feeling. This would represent what the neighborhood is all about - children and dogs and dog owners visiting."

Martin sometimes takes his dogs to Muirwood and said that owners whose dogs are not socialized do not bring them to the off-leash area. "My No. 1 concern is safety, too. If I thought safety is an issue I would not pursue this," he said. "Fortunately we have a good example in Muirwood. The dog owners keep the area clean, so we know that is not going to be an issue."

He emphasized that a lot of dogs go to Nielsen Park. "They use the park pretty much year round," he said. "When the weather gets cooler, no one else comes to the park. Dog owners bring their dogs to the park, rain or shine."

Julie Barr of nearby Armstrong Drive is also in favor of it. "It will increase property values and create a community spirit," she said. "The park belong to everyone - people who play soccer, etc., and dog owners."

She drives to Muirwood Park after work each day to let her black lab/shepherd mix run off-leash. She was not concerned about dogs fighting in front of the children. "I'd say most dogs in Pleasanton live in a family environment with children. Most of the dogs really play very well together. They love each other as company."

She also noted that if dog exercise areas were dangerous so many cities would not build them because of the liability.

But Fox is unconvinced. She and some neighbors presented a letter to the Parks and Recreation commissioners asking for a study of other off-leash areas in the Bay Area. "We believe that Parks Department staff has been highly dismissive of concerns expressed by residents regarding our belief that dog parks risk children's safety if they are placed in close proximity of tot lot play equipment," the letter stated.

The letter also lists a minimum set of criteria in case the dog exercise area is located at Nielsen: ¥ Find a way to locate the exercise area 600 feet away from the playground; ¥ Do not move the playground near busy and noisy streets; ¥ Include more parking because an off-leash area would bring people from outside the neighborhood; and ¥ Do not have the dog area visible to cars driving by.

Fulford said that the considerations are still preliminary. "We took it to the neighborhood now because we wanted to know the neighborhood sentiments," he said. "This is what the commission does - investigates possibilities."

Parks Director Jim Wolfe said neighbors at Muirwood also had concerns initially, fearing people would open their car doors and the dogs would bound out unleashed. Animal Control officers policed the area in the beginning to educate the dog owners, he said. "Now they tend to self-police and aren't shy about telling each other when a dog isn't socialized enough to be there," he said.

The item will probably go before the commission Nov. 14, which meets at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chamber, 200 Old Bernal Ave., Wolfe said. Call 931-5340 to confirm.