CLEARLAKE, Calif. – At its last meeting of 2015, the Clearlake City Council voted to tighten rules in city parks and relating to dog owners, but agreed that it didn't want to move forward with banning dogs from all city parks.
Among the items the council considered – and approved – at its Dec. 10 meeting was an ordinance giving police additional tools to crack down on violations of city park ordinances.
Particularly, under the new ordinance, breaking of city park codes could lead to offenders being prohibited from city parks for periods ranging from 24 hours to a year.
“We're not proposing that this is the thing that's going to fix all of our problems in the park,” but it's another tool in the tool belt, said Lt. Tim Celli of the Clearlake Police Department.
Celli said that in 2015 the Clearlake Police Department had 872 incidents in the city's three parks – Highlands, Redbud and Austin.
Over the last three years, police have responded to 2,256 incidents in the three parks, and citations year-to-date through Dec. 7 totaled 107. Just in Redbud Park there have been 127 arrests. “That is a significant number,” Celli said.
He said District Attorney Don Anderson has agreed to look at the incidents on a case-by-case basis for possible prosecution if the city council approved the new ordinance.
The city of Santa Cruz implemented a similar ordinance that has been very successful and has resulted in a lot of voluntary compliance, said Celli.
No public comment was offered on the item during the meeting.
“Thank you for taking this seriously” and bringing the ordinance forward, Vice Mayor Gina Fortino Dickson told Celli, adding it's one piece on the puzzle of creating high quality, usable parks.
Fortino Dickson moved to approve the ordinance's first reading, which the council approved 5-0.
City Manager Greg Folsom also got support from the council for an ordinance on responsible dog ownership that specifically requires dog owners to clean up their pets' waste and to keep dogs on leashes, provisions not stated implicitly in current city rules.
Those who don't follow the rules could face fines, with exemptions for those over age 65, Folsom said.
The council, however, wouldn't support a proposed ordinance to prohibit dogs in city parks, which would have overturned an ordinance the council adopted to allow dogs in parks in June 2012.
Folsom said the ordinance has caused issues, from abundant dog waste not picked up by pet owners, to disposal bags being shoved down park bathroom toilets, and gang members and the homeless with their aggressive dogs making parks not very family friendly.
The proposal would have banned dogs in parks but still allowed them to get in and out of boats.
Supervisor Jeff Smith, a Clearlake resident, reminded the council that a few years ago Clearlake had been written up as the most unfriendly city to dogs in California, which hurt its attempt to attract tourism.
He said the ordinances the council passed earlier in the meeting should help address some of the problems staff was raising.
“I think it's a real step backwards if we have no dogs in the park again,” he said.
City resident and dog owner Jim Honegger agreed with Smith that the other newly adopted city rules should help deal with the city's concerns.
Honegger said he's part of a group of five seniors – including veterans – who meet twice daily in the city's parks.
“Our dogs are very close to us,” he said, explaining that some of them live alone and their time together with their dogs gives them a chance to exercise and socialize. “This is what parks are for.”
He estimated his group has about 200 years' worth of paying taxes in the city of Clearlake, and added that the vagrants causing issues in the parks aren't property owners or taxpayers. “Responsible people are responsible dog owners.”
Chuck Leonard, a former city councilman, said he was on the council when the ordinance to allow dogs in parks was passed, and he hadn't thought it would work then. He remained concerned about it.
Councilwoman Joyce Overton opposed banning dogs from parks. “We're trying to make irresponsible people responsible.”
She said the city should work with the new ordinances it was adopting to solve the issue. Until the city finds a place for a devoted dog park – possibly next year – she didn't favor changes to park access.
Councilman Bruno Sabatier said he felt there are major dog-related issues in Redbud Park, which is a major tourist spot due to the boat docks.
He said he also hopes to see a new dog park – possibly as soon as the middle of next year – as local nonprofits are offering to support in the building of it.
Mayor Denise Loustalot, herself a dog owner, said the issue was a struggle for her. She said she always keeps her dogs leashed, but she's concerned about children at parks getting hurt by dogs.
Folsom said the current city rules prohibit dogs from being on beaches or playground areas.
Overton said current city park rules aren't being enforced, and maintained she was not comfortable banning dogs altogether in parks.
Sabatier asked Celli about the number of animal-related calls in city parks.
Celli said that, in 2010, before the ordinance passed, there were no documented animal-related calls, with six calls in 2011.
Since the ordinance passed in 2012, there have been 47 animals calls over a three-year period for issues including violations of the leash law and licensing rules, aggressive dogs and bite cases, dogs chasing animals such as ducks in Redbud Park and a child who was attacked by a dog. The problems have “grown exponentially,” Celli said.
Councilman Russ Perdock said he supported not closing the parks to dogs until the city had another option to offer in the form of a dog park.
Initially he said he was in support of the ordinance, but he said that he had reservations as a result of the discussion, and didn't think the council was ready to move forward with the ordinance.
The council reached consensus to not take action on prohibiting dogs in parks, but to revisit the matter in the future.
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Clearlake City Council approves first readings of ordinances to strengthen park and dog ownership rules
- Elizabeth Larson
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