Some members of city council are pleased with plans for an expanded dog area in Moody Park, while others think the idea bites.
On Monday, council approved a design for an off-leash dog area in Moody Park that features a water fountain/dog washing station and retention of existing trees and three existing picnic tables. The off-leash area will be 2,430 square metres, which is bigger than the 1,800 square metre space originally considered by council and the public.
Coun. Bill Harper said council had approved a certain size of dog park, but staff came back with a different proposal. He said the space has increased in size by more than 25 per cent and takes up a “pretty big chunk of property” in Moody Park.
“Is that the way we are going to do business in the city?” he said of the process. “It’s not one I support.”
Dean Gibson, the city’s director of parks, culture and recreation, said staff reviewed the site and determined a larger area is possible and would have a “relatively modest” impact on the site. He said the larger space was developed in response to comments from the community about the size of the dog park.
Coun. Chuck Puchmayr believes the expanded area will result in a better facility for the community.
“We are not rolling over, we are simply fetching a better product,” he said.
Mayor Jonathan Cote said he’d prefer to stick with the original proposal as he believes a smaller “urban style” dog park is suitable for Moody Park. He worries the expanded size of the dog park will encroach into other areas of the park that are filled with families in the summer.
Coun. Jaimie McEvoy said an off-leash area for dogs has been sought for the Uptown and Brow of the Hill neighbourhoods for years. He said there are about 8,000 residents living in apartments within five minutes of Moody Park and don’t have yards for their dogs.
Council unanimously approved a steel picket fence for the off-leash dog area, but approved the larger area in a 4-3 vote. Councillors Patrick Johnstone, McEvoy, Puchmayr and Lorrie Williams supported the larger space, while Cote, Harper and Mary Trentadue supported the original plan.
Williams said the expanded area provides Moody Park with a “true dog park” rather than a “token” off-leash area.
Last week, the city’s parks and recreation committee discussed the design concept and recommended the plan go out for further consultation if it’s different than what was originally presented to the public. The majority of council, however, felt that was unnecessary, saying most dog owners would support a larger area for their pooches to play.
“I don’t think we need to go to a public process,” Puchmayr said. “It won’t solve anything.’”
Christopher Bell, president of the Moody Park Residents’ Association, wrote to council saying the group recently voted 16 to zero against the proposal to place the dog park in a space adjacent to the children’s playground because of health and safety reasons. In an email to the neighbourhood, Bell also expressed concern that the current plan is proposing a much larger fenced dog area than what had previously been approved by city council and is located in an area where people often have large picnics and socials on summer days.
Trentadue said she often takes her child to the playground in Moody Park in the summer and isn’t worried about its proximity to the dog park. (The dog park will be on the other side of the main path through Moody Park.)
“A large number of dogs are always taken down that walkway,” McEvoy said. “There is a separation.”
The Record recently spoke to Uptown resident Catherine McEwen, who has been encouraging the city to create an off-leash area in Moody Park for the past three years.
“I think it’s just fine,” she said of the location. “It’s better than the other two. The other two were small.”
The city also considered locations at the rear of Century House and near the outdoor lacrosse box.
Catherine and husband Ken are frequent visitors to Moody Park with their dog Indio, a spaniel-Chihuahua mix who loves to socialize with other pups. While she’s happy with the city’s decision, McEwen still believes a location closer to 10th Street and Sixth Avenue would have been ideal.
“It would have been just perfect,” she said. “We will take what they are offering, which is second best.”
McEwen, who has been vacationing in California, is impressed with the dog parks in the Coachella Valley. Even though it’s a desert, she said the area’s dog parks are green as can be.
“You should see the dog parks down here – they are beautiful,” she said. “They have green grass, benches to sit on, canopies to stay out of the sun.”
While vacationing in California, McEwen purchased a Powerball lottery ticket with the hope of winning the $500 million prize. “If I won, I was going to pay for the dog park in Moody Park, for the grass and people to come in and maintain it,” she said.
The city plans to keep the existing grass ground cover in the area of the future off-leash area in Moody Park, as well as two of the picnic tables now located in that space.
