Castlegar city council has voted 5-1 to keep the designated dog area at Millennium Park open, but they agree neighbours’ concerns need to be addressed.
Council defeated a motion Tuesday to close the park and then unanimously passed a separate motion calling for city staff to explore the costs of increased bylaw enforcement in the park. A report is expected at council’s last meeting in November.
They also passed a motion calling for a report on “municipal best practices” for dog parks and ways to deal with the problems residents have raised about chronic barking among other things. The timeline on that one was left open, but city staff will report back in a few weeks on whether they think the work can be done in-house or requires a consultant.
The motion on closing the dog park and exploring alternative locations was proposed by councillor Cherryl MacLeod, who said she was considering the 22 people living on 5th Avenue and 8th Street who haven’t had peace in their own homes due to the dog park.
But councillor Darcy Bell said while neighbours have valid concerns, he wanted to find ways to address them before taking the drastic step of closing the dog park.
“Where I’m struggling is this is a little too fast,” he said. “We’ve gone from delegation to having a motion to close. We skipped some steps. We need to take a collective breath, step back and see what else we can do.”
Bell and councillor Brian Bogle agreed there was nothing wrong with MacLeod bringing the motion forward, although they could not support it.
“You don’t treat a broken thumb by chopping off the arm,” Bogle said. “Are there ways to improve the dog park? Change the hours? Have locks on the gates to enforce the hours? Beef up patrols? Maybe we need to look at the dog bylaw again.”
Councillor Sue Heaton-Sherstobitoff said she sympathized with both sides and favors increased enforcement, fencing, and noise barriers but also worries about a slippery slope. “If we’re measuring noise by decibels, where do we end? Measure noise on the playground? Pretty soon we’re going to become Big Brother.”
Councillor Shirley Falstead said adding fencing and more enforcement could help. She also felt there was a role for the community to play and suggested making bark collars mandatory, but other councillors argued against that.
Mayor Maria McFaddin said she felt council could have been more proactive on the issue before it came to council as a delegation in September, but noted the city’s request to the SPCA to vary its patrol schedule has already had positive results.
“If adults are arguing over their dogs, that disappoints me that we can’t deal with things more respectfully,” she said. “I hope we raise the bar as a community, that we learn we can disagree and even we’re angry still be respectful and kind.”
While some have felt the views of people from out of town who use the dog park should be disregarded, McFaddin disagreed, saying it should play into their decision-making since tourism helps sustain local businesses.
Councillor Sandy Bojechko was absent.
A couple of separate motions were withdrawn, although matters they raised will be incorporated into the other reports. MacLeod proposed the south beach off-leash dog park be closed as soon as feasible. However, while some councillors suggested they might eventually support the idea, they felt they needed more information first.
Bell would also like to see a committee of residents on both sides join with councillors and city staff to look at the issue.
The lengthy discussion followed extensive presentations today from residents both for and against as well as many letters and petitions, mostly in favour of preserving the park.
