Correspondence: Proposed Off-Leash Dog Area in Chilco Park - P. Turner

Correspondence Regarding Chilco Dog Park

Honorable Mayor and Council,

My name is Philip Turner, myself and my family live at 13 Cahilty Lane, in the Thetis Vale development, we have lived here since 2010. Recently a questionnaire brought an issue to our attention, that of the proposal for an off-leash dog area. Park usage that goes against bylaws is never anything we have complained about in the ten years we have lived beside the park.

I am not sure how much correspondence you have received in relation to the proposal of this off-leash area at Chilco park. Since I live directly beside one of the proposed areas and myself and our neighbours would be directly impacted by the creation of this off-leash area, I felt it was necessary to send you this letter.

Park usage that goes against the on-leash bylaw has never caused us a major problem in the ten years we have lived here. However, any problems we have had were magnified when there was a large increase in park users that brought their dogs to the park in 2020 when people believed that there was an off-leash area. This has included dog feces thrown over my fence into our fenced off garden (this happened multiple times, I was unable to consume some of our plants last year due to worries about contamination. Due to my severe allergies, I can only eat fruit and vegetables that I grow myself, and a few other items), our garbage can having bags of dog feces thrown into them and my hose being used without my knowledge, flooding the garden on the side of the house. Loud noise from the park (dogs barking, people yelling and having loud conversations) was very common until 10:30 at night. This will clearly be a major problem with an official off-leash dog area.

When you move beside a park you understand there is going to be a reasonable amount of noise, with children playing and families gathering, birthday parties on the weekends. However, we never thought this beautiful green space would be changed into a designated off-leash dog area. This would become a destination location increasing the amount of users, changing the dynamics and feeling of our beloved community park. It would also cause an increase in noise and with our children's bedrooms only being feet away from the park this is a concern.

Another possible issue that came to light in the summer of 2020, when it got out on social media that the park was an off leash dog park, was the lack of parking (there are four non resident spots). The amount of out of area cars (some as far away as the peninsula), filled each side of the road (I spoke to certain dog owners when they were parking). The four provided parking stalls were not adequate. My sons were no longer able to ride their bikes up and down our street, as the sight lines were blocked, and it was too dangerous. If this dog park is approved, there is no doubt that there will be large numbers of people coming from out of the local area to take advantage of the park, as off-leash dog areas become destinations. There will be no businesses to take advantage of the increased numbers of cars and the only impact will be negative ones to the families of the Chilco Park neighbourhood.

My concern is that any problems we have had will grow exponentially with the addition of this off-leash area. These would include continued parks usage by dog owners that want to throw a ball (the areas set aside for dogs would be too small for ball throwing), people not cleaning up their dog feces, more noise at inappropriate hours and people with dogs feeling they have more ownership over the entire park area than kids do (an example of this recently is when my kids were playing baseball, and a dog took their ball, the owner expected my kids to retrieve it from the dog's mouth).

Public urination is an ongoing concern with us. People come to the park for hours at a time with their animals, and since many of them do not live in close proximity they end up using any inconspicuous area they can, usually either the one overhanging bush by my house, or the shrubbery by the playground. This is not just small children who can't contain the need. It is grown men. This is unsightly, illegal, and worrying. When will the time come when it isn't just me seeing it, but my small children?

Another concern in both areas is flooding. During the wetter months, the area by my house becomes a quagmire. After continuous use by a large number of dog owners this winter, the field had to have holes filled in with soil, and the grass reseeded, this is the first time our neighbours have seen this having to be done. With grass impacted by the dog park, there would less absorption of rainfall, leading to more water issues. This would definitely require new drainage.

Chilco park is one of the only flat playing field type areas available for children and families in the View Royal area. It is not unusual to have a soccer practice or full game ongoing in one area, with a game of baseball in another and more than one birthday party or play group in progress on the remaining grass. Taking any area, and making it inaccessible for all people to continue to use it seems wrong. I feel that both the selected areas are inappropriate for use as a dog park. Neither is more than ten feet from someone's fence line, with no large bushes or trees between the proposed off-leash dog area and the houses.

I think that it is important that the council knows that my wife and I are not anti-dog. I owned the same dog for eighteen years and my wife and her family have owned dogs continuously for over forty years. We are happy to see people enjoy their animals, we just don't think the areas chosen are an appropriate use of this beautiful, rare, green space. We believe that there are other options that have not been explored, and we would be happy to help you find it, whether through group community meetings or in the field.

Thank-you very much for your time,

Sincerely,

Phil Turner