Hounded by Residents, Board Drops Dog Park Site

In response to residents’ protests, park officials have backed away from a plan to turn Triunfo Park into the county’s first dog park and will begin looking for another site where dogs can run without leashes.

Three Westlake homeowners associations have objected to the idea of creating a leash-free zone at their neighborhood park, according to a report by the Conejo Recreation and Park District staff.

In addition, 30 to 50 neighbors wrote to the district to oppose Triunfo Park’s selection as the proposed dog park site.

The park district board of directors is scheduled to discuss the issue at Thursday’s meeting and will guidelines for selecting a dog park site.

Among the proposed criteria are: compatibility with the neighborhood, available parking, minimum space requirements and the extent to which the dogs would usurp other activities--issues that have troubled residents near Triunfo Park.

In June, the park board conceptually approved the dog park. Triunfo was chosen because many of the proposal’s supporters--who formed the nonprofit group Park ‘n’ Bark--live in Westlake, according to the staff report.

Supporters envision the dog park as a place where frisky pets will frolic while their owners mix and mingle.

Homeowners, on the other hand, foresaw motorists trolling for a parking space as exhaust fumes waft up and property values crash down.

Neighbors believed they were being “invaded” by the dog park, said Crosby Fentress, president of the Village Homes Property Owners Assn., which represents 687 homes--including those adjacent to the park

Besides their concerns about increased traffic, residents were worried about less-than-vigilant cleanup, dogs jumping over park fences and animals left unattended while their owners run errands.

“It’s a NIMBY thing. It’s ‘not in my back yard, not in my back yard, not in my back yard,’ ” said Debby Carloni, a board member of Park ‘n’ Bark, which has volunteered to pay half the amount needed to construct the park and for all of maintenance costs. A dog park would require fencing, irrigation and a source of drinking water. In a new San Fernando Valley dog park, officials included fake fire hydrants for the animals.

Park district staff first believed the proposed Triunfo dog park would draw few new patrons to the site. But they now concluded that the park could have become quite popular--based on Park ‘n’ Bark’s fund-raising success and the fact that it would have been the first such park in the county.

About 1,000 people--and their dogs--showed up for opening day at a Redondo Beach dog park last month.

Carloni and another Park ‘n’ Bark member, Larry Schalk, say the group is not wedded to the Triunfo Park site.

“We just want a dog park in the Conejo [Valley],” Schalk said.

Dog parks seem to be a regional trend. On Thursday, a 5-acre park dedicated to canines opened in the San Fernando Valley. The grand opening at the Encino site attracted 25 people.

Also in the Valley, a Laurel Canyon park is open to unleashed dogs for a limited number of hours each day. And the city of Calabasas is considering a dog park as well.

Supporters rattle off the benefits dog parks offer their pets: The pooches get physical activity, which is good for their health. They learn to socialize with other dogs. They have some fun.

“I know people want to run their dog around, and I sympathize,” said one resident who lives close to the park and asked not to be named. “But that doesn’t mean they should run roughshod over the rights of the rest of us.”

Tex Ward, executive director for the Conejo park district, said discussion of a dog park is still in the preliminary stages. At Thursday’s meeting, board members may also consider the best location for a future park--an already developed park, an underdeveloped park, or another site on park district land, Ward said.

Several Triunfo Park neighbors were quick with suggestions: the north section of Conejo Creek Park near the Thousand Oaks Library, or undeveloped parkland near the park’s equestrian area. Wherever the dog park goes, they say it should be freeway close but far from residents.

Carloni just hopes that the Park ‘n’ Bark members don’t face similar opposition with future proposed sites. “If that’s the case,” she said, “nothing will ever get done.”

The park board meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Goebel Senior Center, 1385 E. Janss Road.