PRC MIN 1991-08-28 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

. Commissioner Howard said she felt the hearing was well attended and that the majority of people wanted some type of action taken regarding dogs in the parks. She felt that park personnel who spoke up against dogs in the parks were harassed by the crowd when expressing their opinions and was concerned about the increased work load to park staff if dogs are allowed in Redwood City parks. Commissioner Mortensen was concerned that with 65,000 residents in Redwood City and only 130 survey responses received, it was not a true representation of the population. Commissioner Davis mentioned that the committee was unsuccessful in getting the announcement of the meeting or printing of the survey in local newspapers and that many people who attended had heard of the meeting by IIword of mouth". Recreation Center Supervisor Jan Knight said that since there was no money in the budget for the survey, 1,000 copies were printed and left a various city buildings for public response. She stated that 1-5% is the average return of surveys. Commissioner Davis mentioned that a portion of Redwood City residents have expressed an interest in allowing dogs in the parks. He said that several other governmental agencies (City of Sunnyvale, County of San Mateo) are conducting IItrialJl dog areas and perhaps this is something that the committee should consider. Commissioner Slusser was concerned about the statistical validilty of the survey and agreed that a significant portion of the Redwood City population wants something to be done about dogs in the parks. He was not sure about a trial area and felt that the Commission can't lido nothingll about the situation. He wanted to examine the potential of trial facilities and select an area. Commissioner Truscelli felt that the meeting was well attended. She felt that the people in attendance wanted a placed to Walk their dogs with their families. She felt that the people who were interested came to the meeting and would pick up after their dogs, and the people who won't pick up after their dogs didn't answer the questionnaire. . Resident Paul Dow said he would like to see a professional survey sent out to residents and also have it printed in the newspaper so more residents could participate in this process. Since he lives near Garrett Park, he is very concerned about allowing dogs in the parks and feels there should be more emphasis placed on being a responsible dog owner. Recreation Center Supervisor Knight mentioned that according to San Mateo County Licensing statistics, there is one dog for every 1.73 households in the city. The Licensing Bureau estimated that only about 50% of the dogs in the city are licenced and Redwood City currently has approximately 7,500 dogs licensed, which would equate to 15,000 dogs in the city. Chairperson Nordness mentioned that unfortunately there is no money in the budget for another survey and suggested that the committee meet again to discuss the matter further. He said that perhaps the committee could investigate potential locations for a trial area and how long the trial area would be operational, in addition to determining ways to measure the success of the trial. Commissioner Davis mentioned that possibly local dog clubs could be asked to help keep the trial area cleaned up.