Press

April 17th, 2006, Telegram Tribune

In many communities, dog parks are a bone of contention

In Grover Beach, some residents complain that Arroyo Grande residents hog parking spaces near their city’s informal dog park.

It may be a valid complaint. Folks in Arroyo Grande are more likely to be dog owners than residents of any other city in the county.

About 25 percent of people in Arroyo Grande own dogs, according to a Tribune analysis. But that city boasts no dog park.

Six of the county’s seven cities have recently debated whether to provide places where people can take their pups off leash.

Off-leash open spaces where pooches can play are in demand, but neighbors near proposed sites worry about doggie doo littering parks and traffic clogging up streets.

The anti-dog park lobby has a reasonable argument, said County Animal Services Director Manager Eric Anderson.

"People who don’t have dogs don’t want to be accosted by them," he said.

But, he added, "People want to throw a Frisbee or tennis ball with their dog and they just can’t do it on a leash. Having dog parks doesn’t mean we have to have them all over the place, but we need a few."

In Atascadero, where an estimated 22 percent of residents are dog owners, there is an off-leash dog park.

But elsewhere, determining whether and where to have such parks has become a slobbery tennis ball that many city councils don’t want to touch.

Morro Bay has opted to study the issue. About 21 percent of residents there are dog owners, according to the analysis of dog licensing and census data that accounts for Anderson’s estimates that about half the county’s pooches are unlicensed.

Grover Beach studied the issue and then decided against it, saying it would be too expensive to maintain — although supporters note that two-legged dog park visitors often handle the upkeep. About 14 percent of residents there have dogs.

San Luis Obispo has the lowest rate of dog ownership — only about 14 percent of residents have four-legged companions according to the analysis — but with two dog parks, it has the most off-leash space in the county.

Neither Paso Robles nor Pismo Beach has a dog park, but both cities — with 18 percent of their residents keeping a Fido at home — have a higher rate of dog ownership than San Luis Obispo.

A group called Parks-4-Pups is pushing Paso Robles to consider the issue, asking for one trail or park area to be designated an off-leash area for a trial period.

The city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee has agreed to review their request.

Pat Sullivan
Nipomo

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