• Compliance is good relative to the level of use. Considering the heavy use of the park by residents as well as visitors, compliance has been good. Compliance for any rule in any public area will never achieve 100%, but a visit to the park outside "dog hours" shows few users with (or without) dogs. There are many users during the official hours. Most people pick up after their animals. There is an average of just over 3 citations per day for hours non-compliance, and 85% of the citations go to out of town visitors.¹ We believe this shows that local residents are largely attempting to follow the rules. More education is needed in the broader regional community as well as locally.
• Arbitrary hours are confusing, especially to visitors. We reviewed five official City and State documents, which gave contradictory, confusing or inaccurate information regarding the hours and rules for off-leash dog access at Lighthouse Field and Its Beach.² If it’s hard for official sources to get it right, then it’s not surprising that visitors have trouble.
• Community members have actively supported compliance. Friends of Lighthouse Field has handed out flyers and produced posters explaining the rules. We have contacted other organizations to correct inaccurate information published on web sites and other places. We have supplemented the City’s supply of poop bags with a supply of recycled bags, to encourage cleanup compliance. We regularly sponsor park and beach cleanup efforts in collaboration with Parks & Recreation. Monitoring and addressing inappropriate dog or dog owner behavior through active peer pressure is a tradition in this community.
• Voluntary compliance with new sensitive area protection has been excellent. The butterfly protection zone has been marked with unobtrusive signs and low ropes. Voluntary compliance based on understanding of the sensitivity of the area has been extremely good, according to testimony by Parks & Recreation staff testimony at previous City Council and Parks & Recreation Commission meetings.
• Other compliance issues in the park are more serious, and should have a higher enforcement priority. The Field and Beach are heavily used by residents and visitors, and like all urban areas there can be problems. We would all like to see better control of vandalism, noise, illegal camping, littering, fighting, drinking and drug use. We believe some dog-related issues are associated with persons who violate a great many other rules. Focus on these other more serious issues would be a better use of scarce enforcement resources. The presence of community members exercising their dogs exerts a positive influence on these issues as well.
• This community will always have dogs, and will always need a way to exercise them. Animal experts recommend off-leash exercise as the most humane and best way to maintain the physical health as well as the behavioral health of dogs. The large fraction of the population with dogs enjoys open-space recreation while they carry out their obligations to properly care for their animals. If there were no facilities for this activity (and the Lighthouse Field/Its Beach area represents the vast majority of permitted space) then we could expect increased non-compliance. Very few citizens have their own private estates suitable for this essential outdoor activity.

We have several recommendations regarding compliance issues:

• Continue the successful off-leash access at Lighthouse Field and Its Beach. For the reasons explained above, this reduces the compliance issues throughout the city, has beneficial effects for the park and it supports a community that has shown its willingness to care for the Field and Beach.
• Make off-leash areas available dawn to dusk. This simplifies compliance and reduces enforcement costs. It reduces confusion and conflict about when dogs will be in the space.
• Ensure clear signage at all parks where off-leash dogs are allowed. This helps guide persons who may not be clear on the rules.
• Work with community organizations (such as Friends of Lighthouse Field or others) to mitigate problems and educate park users. Existing community support should be harnessed whenever possible to address any potential problems before they occur. There are a number of low-cost efforts that could improve compliance.
• Focus enforcement on the most serious issues. The other non-compliance and public safety issues should be the City’s first priority. In particular, we believe that a focus on certain of the parking areas would also reduce dog-related issues as well.