Palos Verdes dog park update
Time to catch up on that ongoing effort by Bruce and Maureen Megowan to establish an off-leash dog park on the former Palos Verdes landfill site between Hawthorne and Crenshaw boulevards, north of Palos Verdes Drive North. (Here's a recent report on the landfill parcel for background.) An aerial view of the property is shown below.
The Megowans have collected 814 petition signatures that they plan to formally present at several upcoming city council meetings on "The Hill," which is where supporters come in. They're asking that they have good turnouts for the meetings to show support for the idea. The park would be designed to serve all four of the cities on the Peninsula.
Here's the schedule of meetings:
- Rolling Hills City Council, 2 Portuguese Bend Road, 7:30 p.m. Monday -- Sept. 14
- Rancho Palos Verdes City Council, Fred Hesse Park Multipurpose room, 7 p.m. Tuesday -- Sept. 15
- Rolling Hills Estates City Council, 4045 Palos Verdes Drive North (northwest corner at Crenshaw Boulevard), 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22 (a Tuesday)
- Palos Verdes Estates City Council, 340 Palos Verdes Drive West, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13 (a Tuesday)
From the email they sent out this week urging supporters to attend the council meetings:
"This will probably be our best chance to build support for this effort. This email is being sent to over 500 of those who signed the petition and gave us their email addresses, so we hope to see a large turnout at each of the city council meetings. City council members only understand what they see at their meetings, so a large crowd in support of this idea is important."
Questions? You can reach Bruce and Maureen at 310-541-2980 or be added to their email list by contacting them at mmegowan@cox.net.
Here are more posts we've done on the Palos Verdes dog park issue. Bruce first announced a launch of this movement more than a year ago. We posted about it back then for the first time. He was motivated by his miniature Australian shepherd, Pepper (shown below).
You can read the Megowans' most recent message to supporters in full on the jump along with email addresses of city officials if you want to contact them about establishing the dog park.
I have heard that some people active in the equestrian community might have concerns about putting a dog park in this location, but I don't know the specifics. Anyone have any more details on that? Others may also question the safety of the soil on the property (see this April 2009 Daily Breeze article by Melissa Pamer on this topic.)
Any strong opinions out there, either way?
The Megowans' email appeal:
You are receiving this email because you were kind enough to sign a petition my husband Bruce and I have been circulating to have a dog park built on the former Palos Verdes landfill site between Hawthorne and Crenshaw north of Palos Verdes Drive North. We have been able to collect 814 signatures on this petition from residents of all four of the cities on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, which I believe shows overwhelming support for this idea.
The Palos Verdes Landfill site reverts to the control of the County of Los Angeles in 2010 from the Regional Sanitation District. The County is currently soliciting ideas from the public as to potential uses of this site. I have forwarded copies of the dog park petitions to Don Knabe, our local County Supervisor, as well as to Mike Gin, Field Deputy for Supervisor Don Knabe who is handling the task of reviewing potential land uses for the site.
It would be helpful if you could send an email both to Mr. Knabe and Mr. Gin in support of a dog park on the former Palos Verdes landfill site. Their email addresses are as follows:
In addition to our lobbying the County about this idea, My husband and I are also going to be attending City Council meetings for all four of the cities on the Peninsula on the following dates to present our petitions signed by their residents in an attempt to get them to apply political pressure to the County in support of a dog park:. It would be great if you could attend the City Council meeting for the city you live in to show support for a dog park on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. You should also send an email to each of the city council members as well as the city manager of the city you live in to express your support for a dog park:
1) Rolling Hills City Council Meeting, 2 Portuguese Bend Road, 7:30 pm Monday night 9/14:
City Manager email :
ADahlerbruch@cityofrh.net
City Council members: Mayor_CityCouncil@cityofrh.net2) Rancho Palos Verdes City Council Meeting, Fred Hesse Park Multi-purpose room, 7:00 pm Tuesday 9/15
City Council members: cc@rpv.com
City Manager: citymanager@rpv.com
Head of parks dept: parks@rpv.com
3) RHE City Council Meeting, at 4045 Palos Verdes Drive North (the northwest corner at Crenshaw Boulevard)., Tuesday night 9/22 :
City Council member emails:
JudyM@ci.rolling-hills-estates.ca.us
JohnA@ci.rolling-hills-estates.ca.us
SusanS@ci.rolling-hills-estates.ca.us
SteveZ@ci.rolling-hills-estates.ca.us
FrankZ@ci.rolling-hills-estates.ca.us
City Manager email:
DougP@ci.Rolling-Hills-Estates.ca.us
4) Palos Verdes Estates City Council meeting, 7:30 PM Tuesday night October 13 :
City Council members emails:
Mr. Rae : cityclerk@pvestates.org
emperkins@cox.net
rosemaryhumphrey@hotmail.com
goodey10@cox.net
gfb@birdandbirdlaw.com
City Manager Mr. Hoefgen c/o cityclerk@pvestates.org
Please join us in our fight to get a dog park on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. This will probably be our best chance to build support for this effort. This email is being sent to over 500 of those that signed the petition and gave us their email address, so we hope to see a large turnout at each of the city council meetings. City Council members only understand what they see at their meetings, so a large crowd in support of this idea is important. Please join us!!!!
Sincerely,
Maureen and Bruce Megowan 310-541-2980
About the Bloggers
Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn has shared her homes with a succession of wonderful, funny, and occasionally difficult canines -- Muffin, Fritz, Ellie, Mercy, Pilgrim and now Cowboy, an Australian shepherd-border collie, and Tess, a border collie. From strong-willed terriers to weirdly obsessed Australian shepherds, they've invaded her world with boundless energy, wet noses, muddy paws and soggy tennis balls. But they've really brought so much more than that -- like laughter and joy, some unexpected life lessons, and more than a few tears along the way.
E-mail Donna at donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com.
Josh Grossberg grew up with the usual array of animals: goldfish, dogs, hamsters, parakeets and turtles. He now owns the loudest dog in the South Bay(Video: Rocket the Dog) and is the least popular person on his block. He spends his free time in dog parks, pet shops and always has an extra plastic bag in his pocket just in case. He also has a cat.
E-mail Josh at josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com.
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