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The East Palo Alto City Council moved forward on Tuesday with plans to create the city’s first dog park at Martin Luther King Junior Park and improve local park lighting, camera and technology systems at other parks.
In a unanimous vote, the council allowed city staff to begin contracting out the work that is set to conclude in the summer of 2026, according to city documents.
Over the next year, the city plans to create a pilot dog park and install athletic field lighting at Daisy Lane park, implement updated audio visual systems at the Cooley Landing Educational Center and install scoreboards at Jack Farrell and MLK Jr. parks. It also plans to install new lighting and camera systems in Bell Street, Jack Farrell, MLK Jr. and Joel Davis parks.
“It’s super exciting to see,” Vice Mayor Mark Dinan said Tuesday evening. “I know the scoreboards in particular have been a sore point for a lot of the sports teams in East Palo Alto for over a decade.”
Some improvements, like the pilot dog park and scoreboards, may be implemented quicker than the other items, but the timeline depends on when the work is contracted, Jessie Maran, project manager with a local consultant company, said Tuesday.
“We understand that this is a fast track effort, and we’ll figure out the strategy that will get those priority improvements in place,” she said.
The improvements come after the city council listed parks, recreation and community facilities as part of its 2025-26 priority list and allocated money to the items in June. Dinan was particularly interested in park improvements, pushing the city to create a dog park and study the creation of a parks and recreation department during its priority setting meetings in the spring.
The new priority coincides with longstanding city efforts to improve local parks.
“With Council’s recent decision, several projects that were requested during the 2023 Parks Master Plan process were given the green light to move forward,” according to city documents. “Many of these projects pertain to the safety of our residents through new or improved lighting and added amenities that allow for greater use of our parks.”
Staff cited community safety concerns and greater desires for amenities that have caused some residents to “avoid visiting their local parks,” according to the 2023 report.
“If parks could be clean and well maintained and if the bathroom facilities could be open, clean and safe, that would be amazing!” wrote one resident in a 2023 park survey.
Other locals listed desires for more trees, walkable paths, public art and events, picnic tables and gyms.
East Palo Alto resident José Sanchéz, who was walking his dog Eros at Martin Luther King Junior Park on Tuesday afternoon, said he can’t wait for the new dog park to open. Over the years, he said he has seen people in East Palo Alto get more comfortable goign out and walking their dogs.
“I think that’s what we need here in East Palo Alto,” Sanchéz said.
Staff used community feedback to envision a renovated MLK Jr. Park in 2023 with a dedicated baseball field, track, an amphitheater and performance space, outdoor fitness zones and a dog park among other amenities.
Previous plans to create the dog park could help streamline the current effort, which will serve as a pilot, allowing city staff to monitor feedback and study its popularity.
Outside of Tuesday’s park discussion, the city also moved forward plans to work with Sycamore Real Estate Investment, which is owned by Laurene Powell Jobs, to build a multi-use field with football, soccer and baseball striping, backstops and an encompassing eight-lane track.
Private donors have offered to pay over $30 million to construct the athletic park on six acres of land adjacent to a proposed civic center at 2535 Pulgas Avenue.
City staff will continue to update the city council on its recent park improvements as it secures contracts.
Visual Journalist Seeger Gray contributed to this report.
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