Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Nicholas J. Calderon, Parks Director
Subject: Off-Leash Dog Recreation at Quarry County Park
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing the San Mateo County Parks Department to apply for all permits necessary, including a Coastal Development Permit, to make off-leash dog recreation a permissible use at Quarry County Park.
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BACKGROUND:
At the October 23, 2018 Board of Supervisors meeting, the Board directed the Parks Department ("Department") to prepare a recommendation for an off-leash dog recreation pilot program. To assist in this process, the Department created the San Mateo County Parks Dog Work Group ("Work Group"), which was comprised of two Parks Commissioners, three park rangers, members of the Midcoast Community Council and Pescadero Municipal Advisory Council, and representatives from the dog owner, conservationist, equestrian, and mountain bike communities. After the Work Group held monthly public meetings for one year and received extensive public feedback, the Department developed a recommendation for an off-leash dog recreation pilot program at Quarry County Park and Pillar Point Bluff.
At the November 9, 2021 meeting of the Board of Supervisors, the Board certified the off-leash dog recreation pilot program's Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration ("IS/MND") and authorized the Department to commence the recommended pilot program (pending a Coastal Development Permit). Because the County's Ordinance Code prohibited off-leash dog recreation in County parks, on November 16, 2021, the Board amended Section 3.68.180 of the Ordinance Code to authorize off-leash dog recreation on County park trails that were designated by the Department as appropriate for such use. The amended ordinance also established specific requirements that governed the new use.
At its April 5, 2022 meeting, the Board issued a Coastal Dev...
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