Nate's Point Dog Park

Turf Renovation Beginning Aug 29

2011-08-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

A portion of the park (the dirt area) will be fenced off and allowed to re-seed starting August 29. Soon we'll have grass again!

Turf Renovation!

2011-08-17T17:16:00.001-07:00

We may be allowed to re-seed the dirt, and get some turf back! However, this would require closing that area of the park for a couple months, with the south end where there's still grass remaining open. Additionally, this will cost about $5,000.

The others options are to leave it dirt, or use a cheaper material like straw. Apparenty Harry Griffin dog park has used straw successfully, though it takes some volunteers willing to spread it around regularly.

So if turf is what we want, donations are needed! And if not, please provide some feedback.

Lost Dog: Male Maltese

2011-01-12T19:29:00.000-08:00

Missing: Watson, 5lb white neutered male Maltese. Frequently at Nate's, so chance he shows up there. If you have info, please comment or contact info@npdog.org and we'll connect you.

Lighted Collars for Nighttime

2010-09-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

In the winter or a very late summer evening, it's nice to have some kind of light on your dogs while they run around off-leash. We are in no way affiliated with this company, but have had good luck with these collars for years and thought we'd mention it in case anybody is looking for an option:

Visiglo Collars
http://www.keepdoggiesafe.com/platinum-led-collars.html

Adding a Double Gate in the Canyon

2010-08-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

Apparently the lower gate that goes down the hill into the canyon is getting a fair amount of use, and unfortunately is not a double-entry gate like the main entrance. There's been discussion of using some of our funds to add a second gate to this lower entry point. Any comments, please post or contact us.

Additionally, if any work is going to be happening, always nice to get other work done at the same time. Is anybody aware of other fence or gate type repair items that are required at this point?

Running Event Closure Aug 7

2010-07-30T16:42:00.000-07:00

On Aug 7th SDTC will be holding it's 57th running of the Balboa Park 8 mile race which goes through Nate's Point. SDTC has placed signs at each entrance to the off leash area notifying the users that this is coming up. On that Saturday they will be using yellow caution tape from swing gate to swing gate to create the corridor for their race participants and will have monitors out there. This race will be held early and the runners should be through Nate's Point quickly.

But please keep in mind that that swing gates will be open for the duration of the race, not to mention lots of runners going through, so you may want to avoid the dog park saturday morning August 7.

Balboa Park Dog Photo Contest

2010-07-29T16:28:00.001-07:00

Take a picture of your dog in Balboa Park, win prizes: http://www.balboapark.org/blog/?page_id=1202

Municipal Code Updates from the P&R Board

2010-07-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

The Park and Recreation Board is supporting the new municipal code updates. The article in the UT also included this little quote from Chairmain Wilbur Smith:

“You think the banking lobby is strong — try the dog lobby."

This issue still has to go before the City Council, but it looks like there will soon be a 3-dog limit, among other things like not leaving your dog unattended (you'd think that would be widely understood, but apparently not).

"San Diego moving to crack down on off-leash parks"
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jul/15/san-diego-moving-crack-down-leash-parks/

More on the Municipal Code Updates

2010-04-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

As a follow up to the prior post re City Municipal Code Update, the proposed amendments will be going before the Balboa Park Committee on May 6th. The draft is available here.

Kiosk Installed!

2010-04-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

Our new information kiosk is in! Thanks to Eagle Scout Peter Zeller, from Troop 4 La Jolla. Looks like a great construction job, and a nice addition to our park.

Any suggestions for postings welcome.

City Municipal Code Updates

2010-04-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

The City is looking at updating the municipal codes to deal with dog off-leash areas. They will be holding a series of public meetings to discuss the draft proposal and seek input to make sure it works for the dog park community. The main points seem to be adding some personal responsibility for the actions of your dog, and limiting each person to three dogs.

The draft is here. The first meeting will be at the Morley Field Recreation Council regular meeting on April 7th at 6pm at the Balpoa Park Activity Center. Please note that due to public forum requirements, they will only be discussing this municipal code adjustment, not all dog off-leash area issues (like turf maintenance).

In the News: The State of the Turf

2010-03-15T20:31:00.001-07:00

Good piece from Marcella Lee at CBS 8 about the state of turf maintenance at our dog park. Suggestions welcome!

"Unleashing frustration over dog park budget cuts"

In the News: Water Restrictions and Grass

2010-02-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

The UT's Just Fix It column ran a story about the dirt vs grass situation:

"City water restrictions mean dogs’ play place is now dusty field"

New Maintenance Schedule: Closed Wednesday Mornings

2009-08-31T21:22:00.000-07:00

The dog park will now be closed Wednesday mornings for maintenance. This weekly closure is necessary for the safety of the Park maintenance crews and dog park patrons - mowers and dogs just don't mix. The crews expect to be done before noon and will open the park whenever they finish, but it may be closed all morning depending on what issues they have that day, such as any irrigation problems. The gates should be clearly marked when the park is closed, so please respect these important maintenance windows.

Kiosk On the Way - Donations Helpful

2009-08-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

Eagle Scout Peter Zeller, from Troop 4 La Jolla, will be building our kiosk in the next couple months. We'll be covering the materials, about $800, so donations are welcome!

Information Kiosk Update

2009-02-25T15:48:00.000-08:00

Good news! Parks and Rec has informed us that the information kiosk project is already scheduled as an Eagle Scout project, probably in the summer. A couple of items we're suggesting:

Actually putting the kiosk in the park, so that it is more visible and can easily be referred to, particularly for Rules and Etiquette.
Perhaps creating a larger structure that may provide shade or otherwise in addition to just the message board.

If you'd like to help out with this project, please let us know and we'll put you in touch with Parks and Rec or the selected Eagle Scout.

Poop Bag Update

2009-02-25T15:45:00.000-08:00

Parks and Rec is going to try to get the dispensers restocked on Fridays, and perhaps add a few more dispensers to help alleviate the outages. Currently the costs of the bags are being covered from within City funds, but that may change in the future. Donations or sponsorships are always welcome.

Community Meeting Update

2009-02-14T16:27:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everybody that attended our January 2009 Nate's Point Meeting! For those that missed it, here's a summary of the discussion:

Information Kiosk
Many other dog parks and recreational areas have message boards, but not ours. Unfortunately, general public postings are not allowed on Balboa Park information boards, only "official" postings handled through Parks and Rec. Suggestions of info that could be posted:

Clean up after your dog!
Contact Phone Numbers (police, animal control)
Dog Park Rules and Etiquette
Meeting or Event Announcements

Small Dog Area, Turf Management, and Park Design
A primary discussion item is how to manage the park from a small dog and turf management standpoint. There are many elements to consider, and people on all sides of the issue. The group at the meeting had a good discussion with a lot of ideas and input, with representation from many constituencies. The goal is to find a plan that serves everybody as best we can, taking into account usability, aesthetics, maintenance requirements, disabled access, and safety.

Our next step is to put together an advisory committee with a few willing volunteers to help reach out to our dog park community and come up with good plans for solving these issues, including design and funding options. If you're interested in volunteering in some capacity, please contact us.

General Issues
These general items are being discussed with Parks and Rec, updates will follow.

Bag dispensers are often empty by the end of the weekend
Speeding cars on Balboa Drive
Dog drinking fountain is not draining very well
The rear gate fence needs some fixing to help contain the small dogs
Access during or shortly after events is tough, particularly for disabled

Working with Other Groups
The track club would like to make it easier to hold running events in Balboa Park, in addition to helping regular daily joggers where possible. In the forthcoming planning, process we'll take the running group into account. In the meantime, we'll look at temporary fencing solutions to help make their events safe for dogs and runners.

We're looking forward to working with the community and continuing to improve and support our dog park! Thanks again.

NPDog News

Community Meeting Announcement

2008-12-27T15:23:00.000-08:00

Nate's Point Dog Park
Community Meeting

Thursday, January 29th
6:30pm – 8:30pm
Balboa Park Club – Santa Fe Room

Discussion Topics:

Nate’s Point Advisory Committee
Small Dog Area
Turf Management
Lighting
Budget for Improvements

Please RSVP. And feel free to cross-post!

More Information:

We Need Some New Pictures!

2008-12-27T15:19:00.001-08:00

We'd love to have some new pictures of our Park. If you have any good ones, please send them to info@npdog.org.

FeedBurner Feeds now Available

2008-10-21T16:36:00.001-07:00

You can now subscribe to Nate's Point updates via FeedBurner in your favorite reader or via e-mail. See the links to the right.

Vote for Nate's in Best of San Diego!

2008-10-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

Our dog park is up for the best dog park at SignOnSanDiego.com. Cast your vote!

http://bestof.signonsandiego.com/2008/vote/best-dog-parkbeach/

Small Dog Area Update

2008-09-18T17:20:00.000-07:00

We met with the City staff today to start looking at options. They are going to put together some design plans that we can use as a basis for discussion and to determine the official NPDog proposal and level of support available.

The items we are trying to solve are:

Small Dog Safety
Turf Management
Possible Lighting Options

If any dog park members are willing to get involved on a design review committee, please post or e-mail info@npdog.org.

UT JustFixIt Article

2008-09-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

Another nice article about our dog park in the UT's Just Fix It column. Thanks to Peter Blasik for working to keep this project moving forward.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/justfixit/20080917-9999-lz1m17fixit.html

If the small dog area is important to you, please consider donating so that can we pay for this project (we're sure it won't be cheap). We're also investigating adding lighting options to the design.

Small Dog Area Fencing

2008-09-16T17:17:00.000-07:00

Meeting with the City this week, they say they have design plans. More updates coming soon...