The West Hollywood City Council will receive suggestions at a later meeting for alternate surfaces in the William S. Hart dog park. (photo by Rance Collins)

After concerns were raised about the potentially harmful effects of synthetic turf, the West Hollywood City Council approved the company Stoss, Inc., to provide professional design and engineering upgrades to William S. Hart Dog Park on the contingent that other materials would be explored. The plan had been to replace the wood chips that currently make up an off-leash section of the park with artificial grass. The park is located at 8341 De Longpre Ave., just south of Sunset Boulevard and adjacent to Sunset Tower.

“What I heard from the community and my colleagues was that we want to move forward with continued improvements and for staff to come back with suggestions on the best materials after listening to the community,” Mayor John Erickson said. “These are wins for everyone and I’m thankful to everyone that made their voices, and barks, heard at the meeting.”

During the Sept. 16 City Council meeting, community members discussed their fears about toxins found in artificial turf.

“We’ve made it clear that the users of the park unanimously do not want to see this plan of enacted,” said resident Bob Claster, who led the charge against the turf. “Artificial turf is an ecological disaster that spreads disease and would be harmful to the health of the community. It’s hot. It’s smelly. It’s plastic.”

“Science and real-world experience show that artificial turf does not live up to its promises,” Stop Artificial Turf Task Force chair Terry Saucier said. “WeHo promotes itself as a progressive city dedicated to environmental responsibility. How does artificial turf align with these values? When other cities and states are banning the use of plastic grass, why do you want to install this toxic surface?”

But the company that produces the turf, Forever Lawn, also provided the material used in the West Hollywood Park dog parks, where city staff said there have not been issues. Forever Lawn purports to make turf that eliminates perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

“All of our research indicates the turf is non-toxic,” facilities and field service manager Helen Collins said. “A lot of the newer products for dog parks do not contain PFAS.”

Forever Lawn did not respond to a request for comment.

Other materials were discussed, including decomposed granite and pea gravel. The council ultimately choose to approve funding for the park’s redesign, but instructed city staff to come back with more alternatives and reports on materials for the dog park’s surface.

“They’re directing the design firm to come up with something other than the artificial turf,” Claster said. “My conversation with the project’s architect after the meeting sounded like they would be exploring different brands of wood chips … There are other things we don’t much like about the redesign, but in reality, apart from the changes in the council’s makeup [changing after the November election], it’ll be many months before a design is submitted, and then the whole process could start all over again.”

“Our staff did an excellent job of identifying the possible materials for the Hart Park dog area,” Councilman John Heilman said. “Each option has pros and cons. There has been a lot of attention on what material should be used in the dog area, but that is just one component of the plan. We will be improving accessibility on the paths and restoring the AIDS Monument located at the park. I’m glad we were able to move forward with getting the team in place to implement the plan.”

Hart Park, which is owned by the city of Los Angeles despite being in West Hollywood, has been leased by West Hollywood since 1989. The house on the property, once owned by silent screen actor William S. Hart, has been home to the West Coast branch of the Actors Studio since 1968.

“I have confidence that staff will come up with an alternative that the Hart Park dog guardian community will find acceptable, and I’m pawsitive that the dogs will be happy with the outcome,” Councilwoman Lauren Meister said.