Fairfax residents have filed their third petition in seven years for a town dog park.
Resident Jon Elkin presented the idea at a Town Council meeting on May 8 and a Parks and Recreation Commission meeting on May 13, said Town Manager Heather Abrams. No action was taken.
“The properties identified in Mr. Elkin’s presentation are not owned by the town,” Abrams said.
Elkin submitted a petition with 25 signatures to the town on Feb. 26, according to a staff report. The petition stated that residents had previously petitioned the council for dog parks in 2017 and 2021.
“We request that you continue to diligently work on this item until either it comes to fruition, or the Town Council formally votes not to pursue it for the remainder of this term,” Elkin wrote in the petition. “We request that you ensure that the issue doesn’t fade away with no resolution, as with past petitions on this topic.”
Elkin said that Fairfax is one of the few municipalities in the county that does not have a dog park. He said those that do include in San Rafael, Novato, Mill Valley, Larkspur, San Anselmo, Corte Madera, Sausalito, Tiburon, Belvedere and Ross.
He also argued that niche sports facilities for tennis, bocce and skating are less used than dog parks, which have a more universal appeal. Using a metric provided by the California Department of Food and Agriculture “pet ownership calculator,” Elkin said he estimated there are 2,242 dogs in Fairfax.
Elkin suggested locations such as across the creek near the tennis courts at Bolinas Park, the field behind White Hill Middle School, the Deer Park watershed, the Marin Town and Country Club site and the Wall property. In previous presentations, the petitioners have suggested the Fairfax Pavilion as a potential site.
Elkin said the commission appeared receptive to the idea. He said he was returning for a follow-up presentation in June.
“I think we will have an even more productive conversation at that meeting,” Elkin said in a phone interview.
Mayor Barbara Coler said the council directed the group to present the idea to the Parks and Recreation Commission because it is a more appropriate panel to mull the request.
Coler said there is an ordinance in the town code that allows community members to bring petitions to the council if 25 resident signatures are acquired. The council is not beholden to make a decision on the petitions, Coler said.
The council did not indicate a plan to move forward with the project at this time, she said, noting that the proposal has been previously evaluated.
“We need to wait and see if anything new crops up,” she said.
Town resident Richard Hug said he often takes his labrador retriever Sparky out of town to the former golf course in San Geronimo. On Wednesday he was with Sparky at Bolinas Park in Fairfax.
“Fairfax is a dog community. I notice a lot of people here, maybe more than other places, where people are out walking their dogs,” he said.
Hug said he was not familiar with previous dog park proposals. He said he often preferred to keep his dog in more open spaces than dog parks, but he believed it could be a public benefit for some.
“I think that overall, I am for dog parks. I think they are better than no parks. Even though I wouldn’t necessarily use one, I think for most people it would be a good thing,” he said.
Dogs must be leashed in all town parks and on almost all roads, sidewalks, trails, fire roads and open space in the area. Dogs may legally be off leash on fire roads in the Loma Alta Preserve, which is shared with hikers, bicyclists and horseback riders.