June 25, 2004
Dogged Determination
Knoll Hill Dog Park Gets Reprieve, Port Promises Maintenance Help
By Arthur R. Vinsel, Community News Reporter

     Cheers erupted as the nonprofit group responsible for the public dog park crowning San Pedro’s Knoll Hill learned that City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, in the finest tradition of Lassie, has fetched help, assuring the busy pet playground remains open at least two more years.
     The Peninsula Dog Parks Inc. (PDPI) board and a coterie of members who devoted hundreds of hours raising money for insurance and who have labored long at disposal of 200 pounds of post-digested-dog food on a good weekend, assure the community that the park will not close even one day.
     They had previously voted to cease on August 10, when their annual insurance policy expires, rather than begin a third year of solo financial and caretaker activities, a responsibility costing $13,000 to $15,000 a year. They agreed to it in 2002 for one experimental year, to determine feasibility; then continued for a second year and were facing a third, still with no resolution in sight.
     Following a sit-up, or uh, a sit-down with Councilwoman Hahn just before their June 17 annual membership meeting, they announced she’s arranged for the Port of Los Angeles to take over on or before August 10.
     “ I’ve talked to the Port and they agreed to pick up the cost of cleaning up the park for 18 months to two years.” When asked about what would happened when the two years were up, Hahn said she hoped that in the meantime she could work something out for the long term.
     The Department of Recreation and Parks may join in maintenance as they do at eight other off-leash dog parks in the city. Petitions calling for a memorandum of understanding with POLA, due by July 10, are now in circulation.
     “We were not ‘too pooped,’ not at all,” declared Brian Mosich, board president. “We were frustrated! We [the dog park] will not cease to exist. The difference is the city will pay for upkeep as they do at other dog parks. We were happy to do it. We were happy to do it an extra year. But we had made a commitment and we fulfilled it. Now it’s time for others to step up to the plate.”
     Board members at an earlier meeting decided it was time to force the issue. The decision has been complicated by slow city bureaucracy, confusion over jurisdictional matters, and terms of California’s Tidelands Act, recently amended via a bill by Assemb- lymember Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach/San Pedro) to allow recreational uses in the Harbor Area which have long been permitted elsewhere.
     Dog parks in Huntington Beach (established five years ago) and San Diego are bolstered by nonprofits like PDPI, support groups to enhance and improve what’s offered in the same manner as The Friends of the Library organization functions with libraries.
     The ultimate decision depends on the Port Community Advisory Committee (P-CAC) doing further land use evaluation, but former P-CAC member Renee Simon Gormley, a dog park activist, urged them to stand fast.
     “Knoll Hill is now a beachhead for the community in preventing further encroachment by the Port,” she said. “It’s a political process. Everything is possible. You just have to have the political will to do it.”
     Those wishing to sign or help circulate petitions can contact the organization at POB 1937, San Pedro, CA 90733, or call them at 310-514-0338. They can be reached by e-mail at www.dogparks.org.

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Volunteer and former dog park president, Andy Villicich (with his dog, Sheba) cleaned and maintained the park so often that people thought he worked for the City. Photo: Humberto Perez.