DOG PARK - The Palm Springs Parks and Recreation Department will host a community meeting March 27 at the Palm Springs Pavilion to gather resident feedback on planned dog park improvements, including expansion plans for Demuth Park and addressing concerns at the David Ready Dog Park behind City Hall.
The meeting begins at 5 p.m. and will allow officials to share information about maintenance challenges caused by high visitor volume at city dog parks. The Pavilion is located at 401 South Pavilion Way.
“We’re getting a lot of feedback about the conditions of our current dog park facilities,” said Parks and Recreation Director Nick Gonzalez. “We will be hosting a dog park community meeting for anybody interested in hearing about our future plans of the Demuth Park dog park expansion, but also some of the concerns that we have going on here at the David Ready dog park.”
Some residents have criticized the condition of Palm Springs’ dog parks, finding them inadequate compared to neighboring communities.
“I rate ours as a minus,” said one attendee at Tuesday’s ONE-PS monthly meeting who described visiting dog parks in other cities. “It’s just a mess all the time. It’s either muddy or smelly or full of flies.”
Gonzalez acknowledged these concerns but highlighted unique challenges facing Palm Springs dog parks due to their popularity.
“Our dog park gets a significantly large amount of use compared to neighboring cities,” Gonzalez said. “That is something that is really detrimental to the condition of our facilities because we have a lot of people coming through the dog park here at City Hall.”
The heavy traffic from both people and dogs contributes to facility deterioration, with animals “kicking up the grass and the dirt and making a lot of mess,” according to Gonzalez.
Rather than restricting access, the department plans to use the community meeting to educate residents about usage patterns while collecting input on potential solutions.
“I’m not going to limit the amount of people coming to the dog park because that’s not realistic, but we need to tell that story a little bit more so everyone understands,” Gonzalez said.
The meeting will include discussion of current maintenance schedules and options such as reseeding.
Officials also plan to share details about renovation plans for the Demuth Park dog areas.
“Because of the high use that we get here at the City Hall dog park, we’re putting plans in place to really renovate and make the Demuth Park — the small and the large dog park there — really great facilities,” said Gonzalez.
The dog park improvements are part of a broader Parks and Recreation Master Plan that is approximately 98% complete, according to Gonzalez.
The master plan, representing the first comprehensive update to the city’s parks strategy since 2014, will guide the department’s vision for the next decade.
The plan addresses community needs and recreational trends that emerged in recent years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for outdoor spaces.
The plan covers the city’s 11 parks, totaling approximately 312 acres, as well as seven facilities including community centers, the swim center, skate park and Palm Springs Stadium.
Community input has been central to the planning process, with feedback from over 700 people incorporated into the document.
Currently, only 34% of Palm Springs residents live within a 10-minute walking distance of a park, below the 60% goal recommended by the Trust for Public Land and the National Park and Recreation Association.
The department has several other initiatives underway, including a playground grand opening at Baristo Park on April 10 and plans for temporary pickleball courts at the College of the Desert’s temporary campus.
(This article was first published in The Palm Springs Post.)
