ENCINO : Off-Leash Dog Park Agreement Reached

City parks officials and dog owners have agreed on a compromise location for a proposed 9.7-acre dog park to be built inside the Sepulveda Basin.

“When it’s done, it will be the largest of the city’s off-leash dog exercise areas,” said James Ward, principal grounds maintenance supervisor for the Department of Recreation and Parks’ San Fernando Valley division.

The city maintains two other dog parks, 3.7 acres in Studio City at Laurel Canyon Park and one acre that opened in January at the Silver Lake Recreation Center.

The proposed dog park, where canines will be allowed to cavort unfettered inside a fenced area, is in the northwestern corner of the basin near White Oak Avenue and Victory Boulevard. The vacant dirt lot is used by pumpkin vendors around Halloween and occasionally for carnivals.

A spokesman for Councilwoman Laura Chick said dog owners are happy with the city’s decision to abandon its first choice, a lot sandwiched between a day-care center and the National Guard Armory on Victory Boulevard. That site had been opposed by environmentalists, who said the barking dogs and traffic would disturb waterfowl roosting in the old cornfields along the Los Angeles River.

Some dog owners also opposed that site as too remote and a security risk to patrons. After several public meetings, officials and residents agreed to study the Sepulveda Basin site, which both sides now agree is a better location.

Parks officials estimate the cost of developing the park at about $300,000. About $30,000 will come from a corporate sponsor identified so far only as a major pet-food company, which will contribute in exchange for some form of name recognition.

The preliminary design includes a five-acre off-leash dog exercise area surrounded by fencing and a 50-foot buffer zone of grass and shrubbery. Bordered on the south by the Los Angeles River, it will include a one-acre parking lot and about four acres of picnic areas and open fields.

Officials plan to develop the site in phases because there is not enough money to do the job all at once.