OCEANSIDE — After more than year of advocacy and deliberations, the city will not move forward with plans to develop a dog beach, at least for now.
Over the past 12 months, an online petition gathered thousands of signatures in support of a seasonal dog beach with limited hours in North Oceanside on a portion of Harbor Beach between the north jetty and Lifeguard Tower 18.
Councilwoman Kori Jensen and Councilman Christopher Rodriguez, who supported the idea last year, brought the proposal back for consideration during the Oceanside City Council’s Nov. 2 meeting
“Our police and lifeguards don’t have time to police dogs on the beach,” Jensen said. “Our solution is to give a portion of the beach for dogs to access legally.”
Rodriguez said he brings his dogs everywhere with his family and didn’t see the harm in establishing a dog beach that wasn’t during peak hours and season.
But the remaining council members seemed unconvinced of the idea.
“There really is no off-season there,” said Deputy Mayor Ryan Keim about the location of the proposed dog beach. “I think it’s a recipe for disaster at that location but I’m willing to entertain it at a location further south.”
Supporters want to let their furry friends off the leash at a dog beach that is closer to home rather than driving to Del Mar and beyond to visit dog beaches. Proponents also say having a dog beach in a coastal community just makes sense and could attract more visitors who want to vacation with their pets.
“We are a beach community,” said Moss Rosen, an organizer behind the dog beach concept. “We need a dog beach.”
While many supporters of a dog beach showed up at the most recent council meeting, there were also several residents in attendance who were opposed to the idea.
Residents not in favor of a dog beach cited several reasons not to support the proposal, including the potential for dog urine and feces contaminating the beach, harmful environmental impacts to local wildlife and water quality, and risks to children at the nearby playground.
Resident Bob Ashton said the dog beach is proposed for Oceanside’s only remaining dry, sandy beach.
“We only have dry sand on 1.7 miles of our 3.7 mile shoreline – that means 46% of our shoreline is available for our citizens to recreate on,” Ashton said.
Ashton, who is also a dog owner, said with Oceanside’s population of 177,000 residents, plus visitors from nearby inland cities, there isn’t a lot of sandy beach left for everyone to enjoy, especially with a dog beach.
Rather than focus on a dog beach, Ashton would rather city staff focus on finding a solution to restoring sand to the city’s beaches first.
“Once sand is restored to our beach, then let’s bring this issue back up and do it in a responsible manner,” Ashton said.
According to City Manager Jonathan Borrego, the cost to analyze the environmental impacts of a dog beach is approximately $150,000, and it could take a few years for California Coastal Commission to approve it.
“We have applications with the Coastal Commission that are backed up for two to three years,” Borrego said.
Although the dog beach item was brought forward by both Jensen and Rodriguez, Rodriguez refused to second Jensen’s motion to approve the dog beach due to the majority of council’s lack of interest. In order for City Council to vote on an item, one member must issue a motion and another council member must second it before a vote takes place.
“Thank you guys for coming out, we tried,” Rodriguez said to the disappointed audience of dog beach supporters.
