Residents still growling over dog park

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- A small group of residents barking at city

officials to move a popular dog park from its Edwards Street location

remain resolute in their mission, despite measures taken by the city to

address their concerns.

The eight residents, all living on Lakepoint Lane across from the

Huntington Central Park-based canine park, complain that incessant

barking from dogs at the park has been a bane to their quality of life

and each filed a $1-million claim against the city in December.

“We’re against the dog park because it’s not in the right location,”

said Bart Hollander to the Community Services Commission last week. “When

I moved into my home 14 years ago, I accepted the fact that I was near a

busy street because the peace of Central Park was nearby, but there was

no dog park. Now I have to deal with dogs barking 24 hours a day, 365

days a year.”

In a Jan. 10 meeting, the Community Services Commission voted 7 to 0,

with commissioners Bill Borden, Sandy Stahlecker and Aileen Manley

absent, to cut down the park’s operating hours to allow some relief for

surrounding neighborhoods. Between the months of November and April, the

park will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, and 7:30 a.m. to

7 p.m. on the weekend. It will close at 8 p.m. on weekdays during

daylight-saving time.

The Dog Park opened in 1995, offering about two fenced acres for dogs

to run unleased between the hours of 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. Park-goers

voluntarily clean up after their pets, host cleanup days and try to

control the excessive barking.

Max Smith, part of the resident group hoping to move the Dog Park,

said the decision was a positive response for the Lakepoint neighborhood,

though he would like for the city to find a new location.

“It’s not about us against the dogs, or the dog owners,” Smith said,

adding that he owns three canines himself. “It’s about our right to have

a peaceful quality life and the city’s responsibility to follow its own

ordinance.”

City officials have repeatedly said the dog barking at the park does

not violate local noise level regulations. But Smith and his neighbors

maintain that noise decibel levels are not included in the city’s

nuisance ordinance, and that the constant sound of barking dogs is the

main problem.

Members of Best Friends of Dog Park, a nonprofit organization that

advocates to keep the facility at its current location, said they were

more than willing to cooperate with city officials and complaining

residents to find a compromise.

Their suggestions, to move a portion of the park meant for small and

handicapped dogs, as well as set up tarps to help control noise from

barking, were embraced by commissioners and included in their decision.

The City Council will revisit the issue in six months.

“I think the shortened hours should work for everybody,” said resident

Scott Stephens, who takes his 11-month-old Dalmatian, Casper, to the park

daily and has volunteered on park cleanup days. “It’s a two-way street,

and I think that if I lived in those houses across the street and there

was barking, I’d complain too.”