The future of Piedmont’s dog runs is on the table

Harry Truman once said, “You want a friend in Washington. Get a dog”. He meant that Washington was a backstabbing town where no one could be trusted. That statement takes on a whole different meaning in Piedmont. Go to any one of Piedmont’s dog parks on a regular basis and you will meet some of the friendliest people in town. One of the most memorable of the “dog people” was Eleanor, a senior who lived in the Wildwood neighborhood but came to Dracena daily so she could exercise herself and her dog. She was a southerner and a hoot to talk with. Another was Milo Gerard, the PHS senior who circulated a petition (100+ signatures) to allow dogs off-leash on the lawn at Dracena. Milo was on the spectrum and was a film buff who could not be stumped on movie trivia. For many dog park visitors, daily trips to the dog park are for socializing with people like Eleanor and Milo as much as it is for their dogs.

But there have been anonymous complaints about the dog parks, so much so that the Public Works Department is initiating a Sustainable Parks Management Plan (SPMP), an evaluation of the maintenance practices and uses of Piedmont parks aimed at preserving the quality of these lands for future generations That’s a well-intended objective but the main driver of the study is the “degradation” to city parks caused by the dog runs – PW Director Gonzales said so at a public meeting. So over the next 9 month, the consultants will be looking at city vegetation, studying how PW mows and waters the lawns and looking very closely at how dogs run around our parks. See Council discussion and a presentation about the SPMP.

The SPMP addresses a legitimate concern, but residents should be more concerned about what City Hall will do with the results of the study. The city’s recent responses to complaints at Dracena and Linda dog areas show that given the opportunity, staff will suppress use of the dog parks on the slightest pretense.

For example, the Dracena off-leash was subject to an ADA complaint, the complainant seeking access to the group gathering area that is the heart of the Dracena dog area. The city’s response – run an ADA ramp through the center of that very area with no plans to relocate the group gathering spot. Fortunately, the Park Commission balked at this concept and hastily came together with the design of the ramp that is there now. The city had to address the ADA complaint and worked closely with the complainant but essentially left the community out of the discussion.

In February, 2025, the Linda Dog Park was subject to a citizen complaint to the Water Board that eroded soil and fecal waste were running into the storm drain during rain events. Rather than share this information with the community and Park Commission, staff went directly to Council and recommended elimination of all of Linda Park as a dog park. This lack of transparency was attributed to the potential threat of litigation which the city was not facing as it had not been cited for any violation of its water permit. Instead, Director Gonzales interpreted the use of the phrases “topography” and “land use” in the Water Board’s inquiry letter to mean that the agency wanted the city to close the park. To the contrary, Water Board staff had not visited the site and were expecting the city to come forward with a long-term plan, not immediate mitigation, and certainly not closure of the park. Piedmont has a long history of working closely with the Water Board and had the Director met with Board staff he likely could have preserved some off-leash area at Linda at very little cost to the City.

So the future of Piedmonts dog parks is “on the table” over these next 9 months. The SMSP will no doubt find that dogs degrade our parks but will it conclude that this degradation is unsustainable? Will staff use these findings and its interpretation of “topography” to mean that dogs park have to be closed? These questions will be addressed in April 2026 when the SPMP will be released but the City Administrator has already suggested City Hall is thinking this way. At the April 7 City Council meeting, the City Administrator said:

“I think there’s a broader conversation about whether or not using properties with the kind of topography that Dracena and Linda are characteristic of, are they the best places for off-leash dog areas or is a single fenced flat area in Piedmont the best location for that type of use; maybe it’s the future Moraga Canyon Specific Plan area, maybe its Blair Park being fenced, I don’t know but maybe there is a single location that is a future off-leash dog area that better serves than all these locations where we are promoting erosion with off-leash dog uses.”

“Better serves”? The City Administrator can’t’ see the forest for the trees. The socialization between residents and neighbors that happens daily at the dog runs as well as the availability of nearby dog parks for seniors all over town is one of the city’s most valuable assets. Stewarding that asset for the use of present day Piedmonters should be a top priority for city staff.

Questions about the SPMP and public meetings associated with it can be sent to nkent@piedmont.ca.gov

Questions about the development of a fenced dog run near the Oakland Avenue bridge can be sent to dgonzales@piedmont.ca.gov

Questions about the future of Piedmont’s dog parks can be sent to citycouncil@piedmont.ca.gov