Encino : City’s Largest Dog Park Expected to Open

San Fernando Valley dogs should have something new to pant about this spring, when the city is expected to open its third dog park.

To be located at the corner of White Oak Avenue and Victory Boulevard inside the Sepulveda Basin, the 10-acre park would be the largest of its kind in the city.

It would include five acres of fenced-off turf for canines to cavort unleashed. The remaining five acres would provide a buffer between the park and nearby residential areas and include a parking lot, said James Ward, principal grounds maintenance supervisor for the Department of Recreation and Parks’ San Fernando Valley division.

Ward said the department met last week with representatives from “a major dog food company,” who agreed to contribute about $50,000 to develop the park, which is estimated to cost $200,000 to build.

In exchange for the contribution, the dog food concern would be allowed to sponsor events at the park, including dog shows, and possibly erect promotional signage, parks officials said.

Officials said more money to build the park would come from voter-approved recreation funds from fees paid by developers for community recreation facilities in the vicinity of their projects. Councilwoman Laura Chick has agreed to the concept of using these funds for the dog park, which is in her district, a Chick spokesman said.

Parks officials plan to hold more community meetings to keep the public apprised of the park’s status. The department is currently drawing up design plans and preparing environmental impact studies in cooperation with the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers, which owns the land.

The city maintains two other popular dog parks, one at Laurel Canyon Park off Mulholland Drive and the other at Silver Lake Recreation Center.

The parks department settled on the site for the new park in the Sepulveda Basin after homeowners and environmentalists rejected previous locations. The site at White Oak Avenue is a vacant dirt lot used by pumpkin vendors around Halloween, and occasionally for carnivals.