Costa Mesa dogs can anticipate freedom in the grass

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA--Dogs soon will be able to run free in a park that has been

renovated just for them.

City Manager Allan Roeder said Costa Mesa has completed its part of a

bargain struck with residents months ago to create Bark Park in TeWinkle

Park on Arlington Drive at Newport Boulevard.

Parking has been added and walkways for handicapped access have been

laid. Once the Bark Park Committee plants grass in the park, the city

will be ready to reopen the gates to four-legged park users.

A temporary park for dogs, located next to the permanent one, will be

open for up to 90 days to give the committee time to plant the grass and

give it time to grow.

A public-review process of the park renovations led to a heated debate

last year over ground cover. Dog owners were adamant in their desire for

grass instead of wood chips.

But city officials feared the expense of maintaining a lawn that would

be trampled by dozens of dogs each day, Roeder said.

But the council approved a plan in October that allowed Bark Park

volunteers to try to grow grass at the park, a project that should begin

any day.

“It will be interesting to see if, in fact, grass can be grown there

with so many dogs,” Roeder said.

“It was a challenge put to the committee and the park has been turned

over to the committee to let them try. If the committee can make grass

grow, the dogs will have grass. If not, it will remain dirt, which is OK

with the dogs, too.”

The city has had a dog park for years, and the park draws dog owners

from surrounding cities, as well.

“The park is absolutely wonderful,” said Nalani van Ravenswaay, an

Irvine resident who said she regularly visits the park with her dog,

Bogart.

“All the dogs get along and get to exercise and socialize. The dogs

like to run and play and with all the leash laws, they can’t do that at

other places. Here, they are allowed to be dogs.”

Sean Lovelace, a Costa Mesa resident, said he and his dogs, Buckley

and Kaya, are looking forward to the permanent Bark Park’s re-opening,

although they haven’t been unhappy in their make-do quarters.

“The new one should look pretty good, once it’s completed,” he said.

“What I like about this [temporary] one, even though it’s small, is the

grass and all the trees.”