Mr. Nibbles wants a dog park.
And his owner, Rocco Mann, is working to make it happen.
“I’m not the type of guy to get my feet sunk into something unless I can get it done,” said Mann, 64, a retired studio employee. “And what I want done is simple: Give me a fence and some water. We’ll do the rest.”
If only it were so simple, officials said.
Mann’s proposal to bring the city its first dedicated park for dogs, preferably with portions dedicated for small and large, would have to clear several bureaucratic hurdles, said Chris Dasté, director of the Park, Recreation & Community Services Department.
Among the challenges is finding the right location — a parcel with adequate parking that meshes with the neighborhood and doesn’t take away from other planned athletic activities, Dasté said.
The proposal is slated to go before the Park, Recreation & Community Services Board on March 11.
“Rocco has a real passion for this,” Dasté said. “And I would imagine if it goes forward that the help and support of the community would be important. We’re really inclusive in Burbank.”
It’s been 10 years since parks officials studied the possibility of opening a dog park. That plan was ultimately shelved after several organizers behind the project and city officials pulled back over funding concerns and diverging opinions about where the park should be.
And while Volunteers of the Burbank Animal Shelter for years have expressed their doubts about whether the city has the resources to deal with potential problems, such as injuries arising from fights and abandoned pets, Mayor Gary Bric and other council members have publicly shown interest in the project.
“We’re in this for the long haul,” said Mann, who has secured hundreds of signatures in support of his plan. “Put simply: Burbank needs its own doggie park.”
Mann came to that realization last month while sitting in traffic on his return trip from a dog park in Los Angeles. “I ask people about it now and none of them can wait to sign up. If the city doesn’t help me on this one I will be totally devastated,” he said.
The idea is simple, he said. Once the city agrees on the location, Mann and his Friends of the Burbank Doggie Park would raise funds for scoopers, water bowls and a possible storage shed.
