Illegal dog beach at the Santa Ana River mouth endangers rare birds, experts say
If bird lovers have anything to do with it, dogs will no longer have run of a small patch of beach immediately south of the Santa Ana River mouth.
The county land is officially off limits to dogs, but the ban is unenforced. The area has long attracted people and their dogs, whose unbridled and leash-free frolicking on the beach and in the water has become increasingly popular in recent years.
But the dunes there are one of the relatively few places where two rare species of small birds nest and breed, the endangered least tern and particularly the threatened western snowy plover.
Even when the dogs don’t chase the birds or trample their nests, their presence frightens the birds and disrupts breeding, experts say.
Expand
“Nobody is against dogs and nobody should be against snowy plovers,” said Garry Brown, executive director of Orange County Coastkeeper. “But there are a lot more dog lovers than people who know what a snowy plover is. There’s got to be a balance.”
He pointed out that there is a legal, off-leash dog beach less than 5 miles away in Huntington Beach, which is not used for nesting.
Additionally, a biologist working on behalf of 11 environmental groups has notified the city of Newport Beach, immediately to the south, of two stretches of beach there which could be used for dogs without disturbing birds.
A higher authority
Brown — as well as representatives of the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society and the Surfrider Foundation — plan to address the California Coastal Commission at its Wednesday and Thursday meetings at Newport Beach City Hall.
Beside asking the commission for help keeping dogs off the county beach, they’ll seek assistance with the adjacent Newport Beach part of the area, which is often used to get to the county land in disregard for the city law allowing dogs, if leashed, before 10 a.m. and after 4:30 p.m.
“We’re going to ask them to take enforcement action against the county and the city,” said the Sierra Club’s Penny Elia.
She says inadequate policing of dogs by both entities violates the state Coastal Act because the increasing canine populations constitute an unpermitted “intensification of use.”
The item is not on the commission’s agenda — environmentalists will be speaking during the public comments period — so the commission cannot take action at the meeting.
However, the commission has determined the beach to be an “environmentally sensitive habitat area” and has acknowledged that not enough is being done to protect snowy plovers there.
“We think the best approach here is for the county to use its enforcement powers to enforce the dog laws,” commission spokeswoman Noaki Schwartz said Friday. “That’s the most direct approach that would best protect the sensitive resources in the area.”
Brown and Elia are among those hoping their testimony this week will spur the commission’s closer scrutiny of the situation.
Dog-lovers’ delight
Costa Mesa’s Will Taormina has been bringing his dogs to the river-mouth beach for 10 years. He says he’s never seen an animal control officer, although he’s heard of others getting tickets — presumably from the city for having dogs off leash or outside of permitted hours on the city side of the beach.
It’s a highlight of the week for him and his dogs, Taorimina said while visiting the beach with a Bianca, a chow, and Layla, a black lab, on Saturday morning.
“There are other dogs, they can run around and get wet,” he said. “They really love it.”
He attributed the low turnout of dogs on this day — fewer than a dozen during his visit — to the trash washed down the river by recent rains.
“You come here on a normal Saturday, there would be 100 dogs,” he said.
While there are signs explaining the leash law and time restrictions on the Newport side of the beach, he compared the disregard of dog owners to going with the flow of traffic even when in excess of the speed limit: Everybody does it, with little enforcement.
He was unaware part of the beach is county-owned land. There are no signs on the county beach to let people know dogs are illegal there.
He was also unaware that rare birds nested in the dunes, but said he understood the concerns of bird lovers.
“I get both sides,” he said, adding that inland dogs parks were “gross” and the parking lot at Huntington Beach’s dog beach was posed a danger to runaway dogs because it was next to Pacific Coast Highway.
“I like the idea of a fence here. It would protect the snowy plovers and dogs could continue to enjoy the beach.”
No enforcement
The dog-bird conflict began getting increased attention in 2016, when eighbors complained to the city of Newport Beach about dogs off leash and owners who didn’t clean up after their pets.
A proposal that the city seek permission to enforce the dog ban on the county part of the beach was sent to the city Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission.
About 300 dog owners, mostly from outside of Newport Beach, showed up to object and the plan was dropped, according to Assistant City Manager Carol Jacobs.
The following year, county Supervisor Michelle Steel announced a plan to make the county beach an official, legal dog park. But that plan was tabled because of concerns with the birds.
Jacobs said the increased attention has result in the city “upping its game 100 percent from two years ago” in terms of enforcement, and has issued 100s of citations in that time.
But she added that the city’s three animal control officers are unable to patrol the beach more often — and that they’re powerless to do anything about the dogs on the county part of the beach.
Elia said county Public Works department employees have told her that the county has been directed by Steel not to cite scofflaw dog owners.
Phone inquiries to Steel were not returned. Public Works spokesman Shannon Widor said he was unaware of whether Steel had given those instructions and acknowledged the absence of signs about the dog ban.
“From what I understand, (the absence of enforcement) is a resources issue,” Widor said. “Not having staff for patrol that area.”