By Larry Clinton, Sausalito Historical Society
This month marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of Remington Dog Park at Bridgeway and Coloma. The Park owes its existence to Dianne Chute, who was frustrated by not having a place to exercise her golden retriever Remington. After receiving a pair of tickets for walking her dog off leash, she decided to take her concerns to the City.
At an October 1990 meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission, Dianne commented on the unintended consequences of Sausalito’s leash law, which states that dogs must be on leash when off their owner's property.
“Everyone I know is a responsible dog owner,” she said, “yet because of the leash law, we are forced to break the law. I feel like a criminal.”
After presenting a petition signed by 150 like-minded citizens, Dianne added, “Enforcing the leash law is like the City banning cars without providing an alternative means to get around.”
In true Sausalito fashion, that meeting led to a series of debates about whether the park should be temporary or permanent, and where it might be located.
Dianne favored the Martin Luther King Park. She stated in this newspaper that a masterplan for MLK was long overdue and preferred the area between the gym and tennis courts because, of the alternatives discussed, it posed the least amount of work. In January 1991, the City Council designated that section an off-leash area where dogs could be exercised.
Diane formed the Dog Owners Group (D.0.G.) dedicated to developing the area into an adequate local space for exercising their pets, and Marinscope reported that “support of the concept has been overwhelming.”
Fundraising efforts included soliciting private donations, selling hotdogs at the Caledonia Street Fair, selling drinks at the Vintage Boat Show, and holding a lasagna dinner/raffle, which was attended by 125 people. D.O.G. raised over $2OOO combined with $28OO the City donated to the project, to complete the fencing of the off-leash area.
Dianne’s powers of persuasion and —well—dogged determination were beginning to pay off.
Marinscope City Editor Tina Bournazos wrote: “Get a group of Sausalitans together all working towards a community goal and the results are almost always remarkable. This time the group is dogowners, the goal is building a community dog park, and so far the results have been impressive.”
It all became official on November 24, 1991, with a gala ribbon cutting and grand opening. The Park received community donations for a fence, lighting, and general maintenance.
Two years later at the 1993 Take Pride in California Awards ceremony in Sacramento, Dianne Chute was honored for her volunteer efforts on behalf of the State’s public and private lands.
The original deal with the city granted the use of the land as long as maintenance was taken care of by users of the Park. In 2002 Diane and other volunteers formed a non-profit corporation, the Friends of Sausalito Dog Parks, to raise funds and to work in partnership with the City to foster safe, clean and protected dog parks for exercise, socialization and education within Sausalito.
Diane kept a scrapbook of petitions, letters, photos, and news clippings to document the efforts she and other volunteers put in to developing and maintaining the Park. A copy of that scrapbook is now in the collection of the Sausalito Historical Society.
An avid sailor, Dianne also became the first female commodore of the Sausalito Cruising Club, and upon her death not long ago, she left part of her estate to Call of the Sea, to fund sailing scholarships for girls and young women.
Remington would have been proud.