SLO-4-PUPs and El Chorro Dog Park History

First Efforts to Develop an Off-Leash Dog Park in San Luis Obispo County

In 1991, Nancy Conant wrote a letter to the Tribune noting an increasing lack of legal, safe places in the County to take dogs off leash. Ann Calhoun, a local columnist with the Morro Bay Sun Bulletin, wrote a follow-up column based on Nancy’s letter.

Public response letters of support soon appeared in the newspaper, but, despite indication of public interest, efforts to pursue the idea with county officials went nowhere and the idea languished until Ellen Sturtz came to San Luis Obispo to work at the County. Interested in volunteer projects, she discovered the dog-park letters in the County files and contacted Nancy and Ann about re-starting a plan to create an off-leash dog park.

In 1994, SLO-4-PUPs was officially organized by Ellen Sturtz, Ann Calhoun and Nancy Conant. The goal of the group was to lobby the County to include off-leash recreation areas in the draft update of the Parks and Recreation Element of the SLO County Master Plan. They prepared a formal report outlining the benefits of dog parks, as well as several thousand petition signatures, and presented these to the San Luis Obispo County Parks & Recreation Commission in 1995. They also attended all public participation meetings during the development of the draft update and submitted written comments on the draft update. Support for the concept of a dog park was also obtained from the SLO County Animal Control Office, the SLO Kennel Club and the SLODOG Obedience Dog Club.

Organization of SLO-4-PUPs

The name and logo for SLO-4-PUPs was originally created by Ellen, who needed some kind of recognizable acronym that would relate to the group, be easily remembered, and would be based on a phone number that could be used for our free Call America message phone line. The name stands for "San Luis Obispo for (4) Parks Used by PUPs and People”. The logo consists of a paw print beside a human footprint. By 1994, the group’s bylaws were established which listed the following goals:

1. Provide safe, conveniently located recreational opportunities for people who want to spend leisure time with their dogs

2. Provide opportunities for people to meet and socialize with others who have a shared interest in dogs

3. Provide opportunities for dogs to socialize with each other and people

4. Provide public places for pet-related education and information exchanges

5. Promote responsible pet ownership by encouraging positive activities between people and their dogs 6. Celebrate the human/dog bond.

The Bylaws provide for the offices of President, Secretary and Treasurer. From time to time, there has been a Vice-President. SLO-4-PUPs became a California Nonprofit Corporation on March 20, 2001. SLO- 4-PUPs was incorporated as a Non-membership Corporation. This status does not require an annual meeting where all members can vote. Currently, no provision is made for membership in SLO-4-PUPs although Board meetings are open to visitors. The Board of Directors of SLO-4-PUPs consists of from 5 to 10 Board Members; they are selected by existing Board Members. In 2013, the group decided to dissolve its California Nonprofit Corporation status as unnecessary and duplicative since the group had already become a project area of SLO POST in 1999.

Discussions with the County

In 1998, Pete Jenny, head of SLO County Parks Division, approached Nancy Conant and Ann Calhoun about the possibility of developing a pilot off-leash dog park at EI Chorro Regional Park. These discussions were not in writing and are not part of any binding agreements. They were discussions of what was hoped might develop by building dog parks. Pete Jenny suggested that we think big -that if this dog park was a success, other related dog activities might occur at the park. Specifically, dog shows and training events were mentioned. It would also help pave the way for dog parks in other parts of the County.

SLO-4-PUPs and SLOPOST

On February 16, 1999, SLO-4-PUPs joined SLOPOST, a 501c3 nonprofit corporation (San Luis Obispo Parks Open Space and Trails Foundation). The decision to join SLOPOST was made to take advantage of their years of fundraising expertise and contacts within the recreational community and to utilize their tax-exempt status while soliciting funds to build the dog park. SLO-4-PUPs was granted exemption from state franchise or income tax by the California Franchise Tax Board on January 29, 2004 on the grounds that they do not maintain any separate financial accounts from SLOPOST; all financial Income and expenses are routed through SLOPOST and annual financial reports are filed by SLOPOST.

Support from City of San Luis Obispo

In June 1999, the SLO City Council committed $5000 to SLO-4-PUPs as matching money for the construction of an off-leash dog recreation area at EI Chorro Regional Park. This commitment was made as part of an effort to cooperate with the County to provided recreational opportunities that might be lacking in the City but which could be reasonably provided in the County. In addition, the City informally agreed to $1000 worth of Mutt Mitts for the dog park each year.

Adopt-A-Park Pledge between County and SLO-4-PUPs

An agreement was needed between the volunteers building and maintaining the dog park and the County which owned the land and was responsible for use of the public land. After lengthy discussions, in 1999 an Adopt-A Park Pledge was decided upon. This provided that the County would provide liability insurance for activities at the dog park. (Liability insurance costs were prohibitive for a private nonprofit group with daily activities at a public park.) The Pledge is a loose agreement between the County and SLO-4-PUPs; it provided that SLO-4- PUPs accepted responsibility for caring for the park, promoting awareness in the community about problems of littering and vandalism and the need for protecting our natural resources. Further, SLO-4-PUPs agreed to

undertake the following activities: removal of litter and trash, dog droppings, inspection and repair of fencing and kiosk when necessary, and other associated structures. Work would be done on a weekly basis or more often if needed.

Dog Park Master Plan

Nancy Conant prepared the Master Plan for the dog park. It included 2 areas -a larger area (3/4 acre) for larger more active dogs and a smaller (1/2 acre) site for smaller, older or timid dogs. The design included a rustic
5­-foot-high fence. Two double entry gates (5 foot wide) and one drive-through gate (12 foot wide) were provided for each site. Water spigots were located in both areas. Other amenities included and information kiosk in the large dog park, donor benches, a trash enclosure. Limited storage would be available inside the kiosk and the trash enclosure. Wood chips were selected as the ground cover because EI Chorro Regional Park does not have sufficient irrigation water to support grass.

Fundraising Efforts

Costs to build the dog park were estimated at about $15,000. Fundraising efforts included events (Canine Capers 2000), direct mail to dog park supporters, requests to various businesses and trusts, and acquisition of in-kind donations of materials and/ or labor. In addition, members of the public could buy a bench with a donor plaque. The benches were installed with volunteer labor.

Construction of the EI Chorro Dog Park

Actual construction of the dog park began in June 2001. Site grading was provided at no cost by Brett Whitaker, of Whitaker Construction. Farm Supply Company assisted with design of the fence and provided the fence materials at 10% over cost. Through a SLOPOST member, contact was made with Bill Duncan, Warden at The California Men's Colony. He arranged for the inmate crews and staff supervisors build the park as part of a public service project.

Grand Opening

The El Chorro Dog Park officially opened in October 2001. It was celebrated with great joy!

Information Kiosk at the Dog Park

Katrina Rosa and a group of women architects, in conjunction with at-risk young women they were mentoring, prepared a design for the dog park kiosk. Funding for the Kiosk came from a grant from PG&E (via Mary Leizear); volunteers from the PG&E Morro Bay Power Plant built the kiosk.

Spa and Pool Areas

A generous donation by Morro Bay resident, Bob Lane, enabled us to build our raised doggie spa water play area in the large dog park. A similar raised pool area was also built in the small dog park. In addition, volunteers built the handicapped entryway paving and picnic table platform in the small dog area. And a group of park users donated the memorial dog fountain at the small dog spa area.

Entryway

Thanks to a generous donation by Chris Boyle to honor her late Aunt, Lee Boyle, we were able to build our beautiful new entryway. Construction was done by R.J. Barrett Construction, with help from volunteers and was completed in 2010.

Park Expansion

In October, 2011, El Chorro Dog Park celebrated its 10th anniversary with the opening of a newly expanded area of the large dog park. The expansion was made possible by a generous grant from The Harold J. Miossi Charitable Trust. Mr. Miossi was a life-long resident of San Luis Obispo County and was an early hands-on volunteer-supporter of the park. The complex details of the expansion was overseen by SLO-4-PUPs president, Valerie Levulett, and included installation of new fencing, Mutt-Mitt dispensers as well as a grand new doggy pool platform. Constriction was done by R.J. Barrett Construction, and numerous hard-working volunteers. In addition, we moved our storage shed to the opposite corner and volunteer, Jon Sands, recycled some of the old fencing and built a new fenced and gated storage yard adjacent to the shed. We now have a safe place to store wheelbarrows, mulch spreading tools, spare dog kiddie pools and other equipment.

Our Ongoing Volunteer Activities

Starting in 2010, Valerie hosted our annual garage sale at her home as part of the city-wide Morro Bay Garage Sale Day. Each year, our volunteers gathered sale items and worked both days of the sale as part of our annual fundraising efforts.

In 2012, Valerie again applied for and received a grant from the Miossi Charitable Trust to completely re-grade the parking area, which had become dangerously worn. The project helped fix year’s long problems of flooding and improve drainage issues. The parking lot was resurfaced and new bollards installed along the front of the park.

Again in 2013, Valerie applied for another Miossi grant that allowed us to restore and improve the aging kiosk, move our original trash enclosure away from the main gate in order to help improve entryway flow, purchase a shed to house our maintenance tools, and to make many other small, but vital, improvements in the park. We also purchased a sign for over the entryway, which was designed by Sean Beauchamp, of Southpaw Signs of Oceano. It was installed in the summer of 2014, in time for our 13th Anniversary.

In July of 2014 our dear friend, President and co-founder Ann Calhoun passed away. Ann was honored with a memorial bench in the Small Dog Park at the 2015 14th Anniversary Party. Several more benches have also been added thanks to generous donors.

Keeping our dog park beautiful takes funding and lots of work. The dedicated SLO-4-PUPs organization is responsible for all maintenance and repairs in the park. That includes purchasing tools, trash can liners, weed control, pain, repair and cleaning supplies that keep our park clean and beautiful. All donations cover these daily expenses as well as costs for any additional park amenities, while our wonderful volunteers provide the labor.

We are also thankful to Davey Tree and Greenvale Tree Company who donate wood chips. And the California Conservation Corps, who join our Volunteers several times a year for Work Parties to spread chips, trim trees, weed and paint our picnic tables and benches.

SLO-4-PUPs and Central Coast Dog Park Alliance (CCDPA)

Effective January 1, 2024 SLO-4-PUPs joined the Central Coast Dog Park Alliance (CCDPA). CCDPA is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501c3 public benefit corporation with the exclusive purpose to support the development and operation of off-leash dog park recreation areas in public areas of San Luis Obispo County, California. All connections with SLOPOST have been terminated.

SLO-4-PUPs / El Chorro Dog Park
Member of Central Coast Dog Park Alliance
A non-profit tax-exempt 501c3 corporation
PO Box 4511, San Luis Obispo, CA 93403
Website: www.elchorrodogpark.org
Email: elchorrodogpark@gmail.com