Doggy budget

Is Balboa Park part of downtown? Does the city need another leash-free dog park? Can it afford it? Those questions occurred to Mel Shapiro when he read an account in the Union-Tribune about a recently proposed dog park on part of a block at Park Boulevard and Market Street, which the City insists would be downtown’s first. “What about the leash-free park on Laurel Street in Balboa Park? This doggie park is in the Centre City boundaries. The $500,000 budgeted for this park could be used to repay some of the debt that CCDC owes the City,” Shapiro wrote the paper, which hastily responded. “We generally say there are three leash-free areas in Balboa Park, Nate’s Point (near the Cabrillo Bridge/Laurel Street), Morley Field Dog Park and Grape Street Park,” wrote an editor. “Since Balboa Park is not considered part of downtown and is not within the jurisdictional boundaries of CCDC, which is what the city considers to be downtown, no correction is warranted.”

According to a City report regarding the new park, “Staff envisions the 16,500-plus-square-foot area to include separate areas for large and small dogs, benches, and a water fountain.” It adds that funding to pay for upkeep “must still be resolved.”