Park Entrance Sign
This park entrance sign, installed in 2016 as replacement for an old sign that had been vandalized, contains useful information but also has some problems.
(1) It fails to show two of the three porta-potties in the park. Only the unit inside the dog park is shown.
(2) The restrooms that it does show are located outside of the park. One of them is permanently closed except to boat berth renters with a key. The other has eight units, of which seven require a key issued to boat berth renters. You get to guess which door is not locked, if you’re lucky.
(3) The dog symbols are confusing to dog owners. The map shows a dog without a leash in areas where a dog without a leash is not allowed. You have to consult the legend to realize that a picture of a dog off leash in a yellow circle means an area where a dog off leash is not allowed.
(4) The boundaries of the dog park on the map are vague, a bit bizarre, and don’t conform to existing paths or natural boundaries. You’ll find that dog park boundary signs in the park are poorly placed or missing entirely, a constant source of irritation to dog owners and other park users.
(5) The western boundary of the “Protected Natural Area” on the north side has been shrunk eastward to end at a man-made dirt path. The area extends westward to the gravel path.
(6) Only one of the eleven picnic areas in the park is shown on the map.
(7) The sign says that the City of Berkeley named the park after Cesar Chavez in 1996. The date was July 26, 1994.