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There were plenty of woofs and cheers from the several dozen dog-lovers at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, after the body voted unanimously to make permanent a year-old off-leash dog area at Cesar Chavez Park. 

The dog owners told the council that they had worked hard over the last year educating dog owners about keeping dogs leashed in the designated area, cleaning up after careless dog owners, and even pulling out the dreaded star thistle, a non-native plant that tends to overrun native species. 

Sporting a paper dog-bone in support of the park, Friends of Cesar Chavez Park Board Member Ken McNeil told the council that fears of other park users had been assuaged. “Kite flyers and bird watchers were afraid they would be excluded,” he said, explaining that all the different park users now share the off-leash space. 

“The Friends of Cesar Chavez Park have done a fabulous job,” said Councilmember Polly Armstrong, who walks her two small pooches, Franklin and Theodore, at the park regularly. 

While voting in support of the off-leash area, Councilmember Margaret Breland noted that she had received a number of complaints from people who said there needed to be better enforcement by animal control officers to keep the unleashed dogs within the proper area. 

Staff responded that her request for more enforcement would be costly and it was put on the long list of “to-be-funded” items that the council will address as part of budget discussions in the coming weeks. 

Councilmember Linda Maio shared her concerns for nesting birds and asked that the dog park area have clearer designation so that owners would keep their animals away from the wildlife. 

“It’s hard for new visitors to recognize the boundaries,” she said. 

Parks Director Lisa Caronna talked about plans to install a number of long, narrow vertical markers to demarcate the boundaries. The parks department would also prepare maps of the area as handouts. 

Of some concern is a proposal for what some are calling a solar calendar and others are calling an amphitheater. Caronna said the project, which will come before the Parks and Recreation Commission at some point in the future for its approval, will be about 100 feet in diameter and serve as a place for gatherings and celebrations. It would include a solar clock to mark the hours and seasons. 

The resolution as passed Tuesday says the boundary of the off-leash area will exclude the solar calendar area, which would be on the central western ridge. 

The resolution also included the unobtrusive vertical boundary markers, improved signage for the natural protected areas, continued enforcement by Animal Control, improved disabled access into the area and continued public education in partnership with the Friends of Cesar Park about the rights and responsibilities of dog park users.