City looks at dog issues at Albany Waterfront
By Caryl O’Keefe
Albany waterfront visitors, and those who might be visitors if conditions were different, will have a chance soon to offer suggestions concerning dogs on the publicly-owned 88 acres at the waterfront.
The City of Albany’s Waterfront Committee (WC) on July 27 voted to ask City staff to provide a report of conditions and issues related to dogs at the waterfront. This vote followed extensive discussion of a report prepared by committee member Francesco Papalia. Papalia researched waterfront conditions by interviewing park visitors onsite this spring. He concluded that Albany’s waterfront is “a de facto off-leash dog park without any enforcement of any rules.” (read Papalia’s report at These public parklands are contiguous, with few boundary markers, so Papalia’s report encouraged coordinated rules for an ordinance.
Papalia noted that many human visitors are professional dog-walkers who don’t live in Albany but find Albany’s waterfront good for their business: no rule enforcement, no business license needed, no limit on the number of dogs walked at one time, no penalty for failure to clean up after the dogs. His report listed twelve issues about dogs at the waterfront, and several possible solutions. Most solutions would require a City of Albany ordinance.
Most solutions also would require coordination with the East Bay Regional Park District, which operates about 55 acres of East Shore State Park on Albany’s waterfront, at the beach, neck, and plateau. The City owns another 33 acres at the bulb plus a right-of-way on the Neck. Map:
Albany’s City Council adopted in June an ordinance concerning dogs in other Albany parks. The ordinance was proposed by Albany’s Parks and Recreation Commission, after it held public meetings at all other Albany parks. This new ordinance can be expanded to include rules for dogs at the waterfront, according to Albany Recreation Director Penelope Leach. (A staff report for the July 27 Waterfront Committee meeting said WC had declined an offer from the Parks and Recreation Commission to include the waterfront in the ordinance earlier this year, because the committee wanted more time to get public input about “more complicated” issues.)
During the discussion July 27, several WC members supported the suggestion that Albany consider adopting East Bay Regional Park District rules, which in general require dogs to be on leashes, limit the number of dogs a visitor may bring at any one time, and prohibit dogs on swimming beaches. Nearby public dog parks including Point Isabel, and Cesar Chavez Park in Berkeley, have similar rules.
Issues relating to dogs at Albany’s waterfront are likely to be on the next Waterfront Committee meeting agenda, September 14 at 7:30, at Albany Community Center ) The public is invited to the meetings, which usually are held second and sometimes fourth Mondays. Waterfront Committee meetings are broadcast live on KALB 33 in Albany, and are webstreamed on the City’s site. Videos of prior WC meetings are available online (scroll under “Community Videos”) at this link.
Please leave the dogs alone!
There are so many other issues concerning the waterfront that have been dragging on for years- can you please just let the dogs be.
As a long time Albany resident who has seen the Albany Bulb transformed over the years, I think it is important that dogs have an unleashed place where they can run around and play. I’m not a dog owner, but I delight in going to the Bulb and seeing so many dogs playing with each other, in the water, chasing balls with their tongues hanging out and smiles on their faces. I think dog parks are great, but I think this kind of space is preferable.
I am in support of keeping the Albany waterfront an off-leash park.
“Swimming beaches?” Rules, rules, rules. And who is going to enforce these rules? There are signs all over the Point Isabel area, but everyone does what they like. Fortunately almost everyone “likes” to clean up after their dogs, even if they don’t like to keep their dogs out of the mudflats or on leash in the onleash areas. Still, overall it works. One amenity urban settings lack is a few spots that aren’t fenced and weighted with “rules.” Let’s experiment with allowing the users of the Albany beach and bulb to monitor their own behavior, at least as long as the Eastshore State Park remains in the limbo it looks to be floating in for the foreseeable future. Incidentally, I have never owned or walked any dogs, but I do spend quite a bit of time in that area. I also spend time in the East Bay Regional Parks, where I have never seen any enforcement of leash or out-of-water requirements. When folks see this repeatedly, it serves only to encourage an erosion of respect for “rules” of any kind.
Too many people with too much time.
Leave the Albany waterfront alone. We want our dogs to play in the water. I’m down there often and there is no big problem. The problem as I see it is some of the people have way to much time on there hands and need to find a project.
Here is a list of things in ALbany that could use the public help.
Sweep Solano ave.
but up the no smoking stickers on solano
Plant flower on the Buchanan Street.
volunteer at Albany public library
really people leave the dog park alone find something you can do.- get a life
Every time I’ve gone to the beach there are a number of dog owners that do not have their dogs under voice control, and let them run amok. It really reduces the quality of the waterfront for me and my family. They run over our stuff, steal and slobber on frisbees and balls we play catch with, and chase our kids around, often scaring them (and us). At least we haven’t been bit yet but it does concern me.
So yeah, it’s a big waterfront issue for me and I’m for some rules and enforcement. It’s a shame for the responsible dog owners/walkers.