DOGS' FREEDOM FAR FROM FREE; COSTS FOR OFF-LEASH PARK IN THOUSAND OAKS MAY INCREASE SIXFOLD.Byline: Cecilia Chan Daily News Staff Writer A park for man's best friend to romp unleashed may cost six times the $24,000 originally budgeted for the haven local dog owners have wanted for years. Tonight, the Conejo Recreation and Park District board will consider placing the proposed three-acre dog park on the fiscal 1998-99 capital improvement project list, making the park eligible for funding. District officials often have often heard from Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. residents interested in having a place for pups to run free. They point out that it is a trend for communities with leash laws leash law n. An ordinance requiring that dogs be kept on a leash when not restricted to their owners' property. to try to establish some leash-free open space for dogs. ``These people have lobbied hard for this dog park,'' said board Chairwoman Susan Holt holt n. Archaic A wood or grove; a copse. [Middle English, from Old English.] holt Noun the lair of an otter [from about members of a local group, Park & Bark. ``And there is a great deal of interest for it. We have been in favor of it since they proposed it. The only question was where to put it.'' Tom Sorensen Thomas ("Tom") Sorensen (born April 6, 1971 in Racine, Wisconsin) is a former American volleyball player, who represented the United States men's national volleyball team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. , district administrator for parks and planning, gave a rough estimate of $150,000 to create the park with needed infrastructure, such as an irrigation irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. system, drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. and parking. The higher cost comes from proposing a new location for the park on undeveloped property, rather than using land that already has been developed for recreation, Sorensen said. Board members had been concerned about displacing users of established parks. Additionally, the latest proposal is for three acres, not just the one acre previously considered. ``The board's adopted original budget estimate was based on a project that was to be located on existing parkland with infrastructure already in place,'' Sorensen said. ``They didn't want it on existing parkland because they didn't want to displace dis·place tr.v. dis·placed, dis·plac·ing, dis·plac·es 1. To move or shift from the usual place or position, especially to force to leave a homeland: any recreational uses. ``That being the case, you have to bring in infrastructure, so that is the difference in cost.'' He said the cost estimate could rise further, depending on conditions the city imposes on the project and findings in an environmental impact report. Sorensen said he hopes to have firm cost estimates for the board by autumn. The proposed triangular site is bordered by Highway 23, Avenida de las Flores Las Flores can refer to:
a rider of horses. area at Conejo Creek Park. Dog owners would have access to the fenced-in site by Avenida de las Flores. Public restrooms are nearby in Waverly Park. Plans call for the park to be heavily screened by landscaping on all sides. Construction would take about 90 days to complete, officials said. Fees to use the park have not been worked out yet. Nor has an agreement with the nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. Park & Bark group to help fund maintenance and operation of the dog park, Sorenson said. Dog parks are increasingly becoming popular - Calabasas officials hope to open their new one soon - as residents and local government find a way to allow dogs to run free in some public areas although they must legally be leashed in most. Dog owners can be fined for having dogs off leashes in most city parks. ``People want to have the leash law enforced, and by the same token people like to have their dog off leashes,'' Sorensen said. ``What we have is a win-win here.'' Holt likes the new proposal. ``I don't happen to have a dog right at this moment, but I have had dogs,'' she said. ``I know dog owners have a need to have their dogs run free a little bit, but there just isn't a place they could do it legally.'' The dog park is part of a master plan, adopted in January, that guides the development of the 120-acre Conejo Creek Park. The blueprint blueprint, white-on-blue photographic print, commonly of a working drawing used during building or manufacturing. The plan is first drawn to scale on a special paper or tracing cloth through which light can penetrate. also calls for more soccer fields, picnic areas, a recreation center and a community garden. CAPTION(S): Map MAP: THOUSAND OAKS Proposed dog park |
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