NURSERY HILL NEIGHBOURHOOD PARKS PLANNING – 80 ATKINS ROAD REVIEW

BACKGROUND:

The Nursery Hill neighbourhood is located in the Atkins Neighbourhood per the 2011 Official Community Plan (Schedule C). For the purposes of this report, the Nursery Hill neighbourhood encompasses Lakeside Village, Nursery Hill Park and Garry Oak Meadows Park, and is surrounded by the Chilco / Lund residential neighbourhood and the Atkins Neighbourhood Centre.

Figure 1: Location Plan (2011 OCP, Schedule C)

The region is served by many parks including Nursery Hill Park, Garry Oak Meadows Park and Robin Hill Park (natural greenspace), Chilco Park (neighbourhood park) and Thetis Lake Regional Park (Capital Regional District Park).

The Town has received Council and resident requests over the years for park amenities in the Nursery Hill neighbourhood such as a small playground or an off-leash dog park. A brief history on the outcome of these requests are as follows:

Table 1: Playground Requests

Table 2: Off-Leash Dog Park Requests

DISCUSSION:

80 Atkins is a hooked title of land (bisected by Six Mile Road) purchased by the Town in 2006 to accommodate the roundabout that is currently under construction. The easterly portion of 80 Atkins Road is a narrow, triangular parcel that, until the recent round about construction began, has been used as overflow parking for Thetis Lake Park. The parcel is often full in the spring and summer months. Residential parking is often observed in this area and Bylaw Enforcement has had to attend to derelict vehicles left behind from time to time. Illegal yard dumping has also been observed at the rear of the property.

The 80 Atkins space could be a suitable space for an off-leash dog park and/or a children’s playground. It in an area that would not impact the sensitive ecosystem of Garry Oak Meadows Park or Nursery Hill Park. There are examples of linear off-leash dog parks and small space playground areas within Greater Victoria that the 80 Atkins space could emulate.

Staff recommend that parks planning be conducted first in order to utilize parks spaces, both existing and potential, in the best way possible to suit the needs of the Nursery Hill Neighbourhood and beyond. Both an off-leash dog park and playground would compete for space within the 80 Atkins parcel, and each have their own spatial requirements to preserve the safety of parks users. Given the amount of public engagement that was previously established for Chilco Park and the recent Watkiss Park project, staff recommend that equitable public engagement be also provided for the 80 Atkins Road parcel.

Development Services currently has within their five-year workplan to develop a Parks and Trails Master Plan. Therefore, staff recommend incorporating the engagement and planning of this project as part of the Parks and Trails Master Plan work. Doing so would establish a holistic network of neighbourhood parks aligned with the Town’s updated Official Community Plan.

Given the recommended parks planning work, and the fact that a motion to include a Six Mile Road off-leash dog area project was defeated at the November 13, 2023 Committee of the Whole meeting, staff recommend incorporating future parks planning of the 80 Atkins site into the project summary of the Parks and Trails Master Plan, to be included as part of the 2025-2028 Financial Planning exercise.

Figure 2: Potential Usable Space

Alternatively, Council may consider piloting a ‘temporary use space’ of the property until such time the Parks and Trails Master Plan is updated and a final park design is created. The area could be temporarily fenced in and used as a flex space: such example usages could include, but are not limited to, a temporary off-leash dog area, open play space for children, or a quiet park with temporary seating (naturescape).

SUSTAINABILITY/CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS:

Shifting off-leash dog areas and children’s playgrounds away from Garry Oak Meadows Park and Nursery Hill Park, while incorporating parks planning of these sites into a revised Parks and Trails Master Plan, aligns with several sustainability and climate action related goals of the Town’s Parks Master Plan:

1. Goal 1: Maintain and Improve Existing Parks and Trails
   • Strategy 3: Maintain high levels of safety and security through careful design and management
   • Strategy 4: Establish and achieve best practices in park infrastructure
   • Strategy 5: Consider the current population and evolving demographics in parks planning
2. Goal 2: Provide Diverse and Inclusive Opportunities
   • Strategy 6: Foster a range of active and interesting activities by enhancing sense of place
3. Goal 3: Support and Enhance the Health of Ecosystems
   • Strategy 13: Protect natural areas and trail systems

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

Any of the parks options and alternatives identified in this report will financially impact the Town from both a non-core / capital perspective (parks planning and installation) and taxation perspective (operations and maintenance). The level of impact is directly proportional to the magnitude of change that Council wishes to see in parks within the Nursery Hill neighbourhood.

Furthermore, with the anticipated addition of the new Watkiss Park (BC Transit HandyDART lease site), Little Road Park, and anticipated changes to Helmcken Centennial Park as identified in the approved 2023-2027 Financial Plan, additional staffing resources will be required to maintain existing levels of services throughout the Town’s parks and trails system.

Finally, from an asset management perspective, additional equipment and structures such as dog-fencing and playground equipment can impact total lifecycle costs of replacing park assets.

ALTERNATIVES:

The draft 2024-2028 Financial Plan has been compiled for Council deliberation at its February 2024, budget workshops. It is reflective of staff workload and capacity to deliver projects in a timely manner. Should Council wish to vary from staff’s recommendation and commence the project in a manner outside of the Parks and Trails Master Plan, then it is expected that other project(s) will be required to move to later years to accommodate workload and budget. Furthermore, adding the project to the scope of Chilco Park playground replacements would still require additional staff resources. From a finance perspective, there may be funding issues with respect to utilizing Chilco Park funding because a portion of that project is funded by DCC’s and is not transferrable to non-DCC projects.

Council can consider the feasibility of utilizing the 80 Atkins space as a temporary ‘flex space’ as indicated above. This would require additional resources in both staff time and services that would negatively impact existing levels of services for other parks (garbage collection and disposal, inspections, maintenance work, etc.). Should Council wish to pursue this option, staff recommend that a project summary be prepared for the temporary use as part of the 2025-2029 Financial Plan deliberations given that the roundabout construction is not expected to be completed until mid to late 2024.

Staff continue to recommend that if such options are to be considered by Council, that they be explored through meaningful community engagement.

CONCLUSION:

While requests for off-leash dog parks and children’s playgrounds in the Nursery Hill neighbourhood have previously been defeated, neighbourhood changes, growth and emerging needs often bring earlier ideas back to the table.

To address change, staff recommend that requests for (1) changes to existing parks and (2) proposals for new parks within the Nursery Hill neighbourhood be incorporated in the Town’s Parks and Trails Master Plan update. Given the space constraints within 80 Atkins Road and the spatial requirements needed for an off-leash dog park and children’s playground, especially if both are proposed in this space, staff recommend that any changes to 80 Atkins also be incorporated into the Parks and Trails Master Plan update. Engagement will be a key piece in understanding neighbourhood needs and values.