Plans for Leash-Free Park to Be Unveiled

Plans for a proposed off-leash dog park in Venice will be unveiled tonight at a public meeting.

At the urging of dog owners, city park and recreation officials drew up a plan to fence off a portion of the 2 1/2-acre Westminster Park. The Westminster Senior Citizens Center at the park would not be affected, said Nikki Tennant, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter.

“Venice is a very concentrated community with a lot of people who have dogs and no place to take them,” Tennant said.

With public support, the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission would approve the plan, Tennant said. The City Council must then approve an exemption of the city’s leash law for the park.

There are three off-leash dog parks in Los Angeles, but the others are regional centers and Venice’s would be the city’s first urban dog park, Tennant said.

Dog owners lobbied for the park after a crackdown this year on violations of the leash law in Venice. The meeting is at 7 p.m. at the park’s senior citizens center, 1234 Pacific Ave.