Leash Law May Be Real Issue in Hermosa Open-Space Measures

A Hermosa Beach City Council majority, contending that a group of dog owners is seeking an exemption from the leash law under the guise of an open-space initiative, has added its own ballot measure, which would designate a 20-acre railroad right of way as parkland but ban unleashed dogs from the strip.

The council-sponsored measure for the November ballot was adopted on a split vote Tuesday. It will compete with the initiative circulated by Watchdog, a group that formed in March after the council decided to apply the leash law on the Santa Fe Railroad right of way once the city acquires ownership later this year.

Both initiatives would designate the railroad strip as open space that could never be used for residential, commercial or other development. However, the Watchdog initiative, which easily qualified for the ballot, would allow unleashed dogs on the strip, whereas the council measure would bar them.

At its meeting, the council also modified a task force proposal on the use of the Biltmore site and also added that to the November ballot. The Biltmore site is a 0.8-acre piece of city-owned property adjoining The Strand between 14th and 15th streets.

This initiative will compete with an open space initiative circulated by community activist Parker Herriott.

In introducing the competing measure on the railroad right of way, Councilmen Jim Rosenberger and Chuck Sheldon angrily accused the Watchdog group of stirring up unfounded fears to gain support for its initiative.

The councilmen asserted that the council has never had any intention of using the right of way for anything other than public recreation and open space. Sheldon said he has only proposed improvements, such as resurfacing and striping of two existing parking areas on the strip, landscaping and erosion control.

Record Defended

“This council has an excellent track record on efforts to lessen (housing) density,” Rosenberger said. “Now we are presented with this measure . . . that flies in the face of reason and history.”

Tom Arp, one of about a dozen Watchdog members at the meeting, challenged Sheldon to define the difference between “improvements and development.” He pointed out that Watchdog had gathered more than 2,100 signatures, about 800 more than the minimum number needed to qualify its initiative for the ballot.

“This is a people’s initiative,” he said. “Let us have our vote in a fair and just manner.”

One speaker opposed the Watchdog measure, saying its proponents have “snookered” voters into believing that the issue is open space, not unleashed dogs on the strip.

Watchdog members have said they started with the leash issue, but later became concerned about preserving open space when they learned that greenbelt zoning allows the city to use up to 10% of the land for development. Under the Watchdog proposal, dogs under the control of their owners would be allowed off their leashes.

Mayor June Williams joined Rosenberger and Sheldon in voting for the council measure barring unleashed dogs.

Councilwoman Etta Simpson voted against the measure, which she said would tend to “usurp the will of the people” as expressed in the initiative process. Councilman Roger Creighton, who said unleashed dogs have been exercised for many years without any complaints, also voted against the measure.

‘We Shall Overcome’

One Watchdog member sang the first line of “We Shall Overcome” as the group left the meeting.

On the Biltmore issue, council members praised the work of a citizens task force that proposed a compromise solution to the longstanding question of what to do with the property.

However, before deciding to offer the compromise to voters in November, the council made two alterations: the northeast corner of the tiny property was changed from commercial zoning to high-density residential, and the southeast corner would be leased, instead of sold, for commercial use. The strip along The Strand would be reserved for an “urban park plaza.”

By a 3-2 vote, the council rejected Creighton’s motion to add still another choice in November: sell the entire parcel for residential development and use the proceeds to buy and improve much larger open space areas, such as the railroad right of way and surplus school sites. That approach and two others were rejected by voters last year.

Herriott’s competing initiative in November would preserve the entire Biltmore site for public use.