Moving Manhattan Beach’s Dog Run? Community Board 15 Decides Tonight!

Community Board 15 will have a public hearing and vote tonight on a proposal to move the Manhattan Beach dog run from its current location – a project on which the neighborhood’s two community groups are at odds.

Out of respect for the Yom Kippur holiday on Tuesday night, Community Board 15’s monthly meeting has been bumped up to tonight at 6:00 p.m. at Kingsborough Community College’s Faculty Dining Room (2001 Oriental Boulevard).

The Manhattan Beach Community Group has decried the dog run’s current Kensington Street location as filthy, smelly and poorly maintained, asking the city to remove it. Councilman Mike Nelson has allocated $500,000  to move the dog run further away from Kensington Street and to replace the current spot with a city-maintained garden with no public access whatsoever. The MBCG’s rival, the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association, claims that they were not consulted on the project and are against the move. The new proposed location is still to be decided, but will be smaller, and subdivided into areas for large dogs and small dogs.

Nelson’s office said they will adhere to the Board’s recommendation, and the park will only go forward if the Board gives the green light.

Aside from the dog park, the Board will also hold public hearings on the following land use issues:

• 2359 East 5th Street, between Avenue W and Angela Drive – application for a special permit to all the enlargement of a single family dwelling.
• 2410 Avenue S, between East 24th Street and Bedford Avenue – application for a special permit to all the enlargement of a single family dwelling.
• 2771 Knapp Street, between Harkness Avenue and Plumb Beach Channel – application for a special permit to allow the use of an enlarged one-story building as four eating and drinking establishments.
• 1713 East 23rd Street, between Quentin Road and Avenue R – application for a special permit to all the enlargement of a single family dwelling.
• 154 Girard Street, between Hampton Avenue and Oriental Boulevard – application for a special permit to all the enlargement of a single family dwelling.

Additionally, there will be discussion of the district’s budgetary needs in advance of the city’s 2014 budget process.