Potential Dog Park Gets Overwhelming Support at LA Parks Meeting

By DAYNA DRUM | Reporter

Despite the cold winds, Pacific Palisades was well represented at the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation meeting held on Dec. 14 at the Barrington Recreation Center.

The meeting was just one of 189 assessment meetings the department is going to hold around the city to determine the needs of the city’s over 250 parks. Monday night’s gathering addressed the areas of the Palisades, Brentwood, Bel-Air, Beverly Crest and Hollywood Hills.

Prior to the meeting professionals went through statistics and demographics to identify potential projects for each area. Proposed projects listed on a large poster board included: general infrastructure and gymnasium improvements to Palisades Park, gymnasium and playground improvements to Rustic Canyon Park and picnic shelters at Temescal Canyon Park.

Principal Recreation Supervisor Michael Harrison, who led the meeting, clarified that the potential projects discussed were not a commitment.

Harrison then took various questions regarding the process and areas that residents would like to see improvement on.

Attendees were then instructed to break into two groups according to which area they were representing—there was only a Palisades-Brentwood group as nobody in attendance was from the other areas.

Each individual was given 10 yellow stickers and told to place a sticker on whichever projects they supported. Attendees were also encouraged to give their own project ideas and vote on those.

A paper reading “Add dog-park in Pacific Palisades/Brentwood” was covered in yellow stickers.

Palisadian Madeline Hyman said she attended the meeting to support building a dog park in the area. She explained there are a lot of off-leash dogs in the Palisades parks and it would be very beneficial to the community.

General repair at Palisades Recreation Center received the second-most small yellow votes.

The rest of the votes were dispersed among a new soccer field, repairs to Asilomar Park, opening Potrero Canyon Park and restoring the historical facility at Rustic Canyon.

Harrison explained that the votes would be tallied and compiled into a report for Los Angeles County, which is working with the city.

The process—from idea to approved funding by the county—takes about 15 months.

Harrison said he has seen things voted on at these kinds of assessment meetings come to fruition.

Although he’s not sure if it was a direct result of the community input, he sad, “I’d like to think so.”