After reviewing a staff report on best practices for dog parks, Castlegar City Council has decided to explore a few options for Castlegar's dog park.
Issues surrounding the dog park at Millennium Park have been in front of city council a number of times since a group of residents with properties near the park brought forward a series of complaints in September 2023. Those complaints include dog fights, dog-owner fights, off-leash dogs entering private property, dog attacks, late night/early morning usage and constant noise from barking dogs.
The group went as far as asking for the park to be closed, but council denied the request.
Since that time, the city has tried to increase enforcement and education at the park, surveyed residents and commissioned a study on best practices.
The latest best practices report highlights what staff considered as the largest concerns and offered a series of potential options. It was based on other communities' experiences, local issues and survey results.
The report concluded that the off-leash areas at Millennium Park were "substantially consistent with the best practices identified for standard amenities." But noted that significant growth in dog guardianship in the city since 2020, as well as a desire for improved amenities and expanded areas of inclusion, indicates a need to re-examine the city’s management of off-leash areas.
In addition, CAO Chris Barlow said the survey results, particularly that 50 per cent of respondents were driving to the dog park, indicate it is likely time for the city to be looking at building a second dog park in its long-term plans.
The areas of concern that were identified included noise, trespassing, rushing behaviour, gate areas and off-leash dogs outside designated areas, but the report stated the recent resident survey establishes that "these issues are not acute at this time."
That is a conclusion that some of the park's adjacent property owners strongly disagreed with during the meeting's question period.
Jarred Beck has spoken to council a number of times about the dog park. He said that while he appreciated the report, he didn't feel it addressed the neighbour's concerns regarding dog barking.
"Dog barking is absolutely a problem," said Beck.
He also felt that the survey results skew against the nearby property owners as there are only about 14 of them, compared to the 400 others that filled out the survey.
"We are the ones who live through this and are asking for change," Beck emphasized.
Potential actions included promoting "good neighbour behaviour" through signage, adding fencing to park boundaries, breaking up the dog area with vegetation or berms/mounds, installing gates at access points, relocating fountains, implementing an education program, creating a set of etiquette guidelines and consulting with professionals regarding the south beach off-leash area.
One of the ongoing questions regarding the off-leash dog areas, has been how and why the south beach area along the river became a dog area in the first place.
Barlow reported that the answer has been hard to pin down.
He said it was not included in the original park master plan, but a nearby water feature was. That feature was closed after it proved to not be suitable for the location.
The best conclusion Barlow could come up with was that the south beach area was fenced in and turned into an off-leash dog area based on the way the community was already using it.
Barlow said staff went through financial records and found purchase orders from 2014-2016 for the fencing. But the invoices were no longer on record, being past the standard seven-year record preservation guidelines.
Concerns were also raised over the last year about the area being designated for nature conservation or bird habitat at some point in the past.
To that point, the city determined that in 1997 Selkirk College had supported a student project to convert a gravel pit at the site to wetland habitat. But the following year, the college indicated that the site wasn’t suitable for further habitat work due to fluctuating water levels and ongoing recreational use. The site was not enhanced beyond the earthworks (constructed island and moat) that remain today.
Actions
After examining the report and debate and discussion around the council table, council decided on several actions.
One thing everyone agreed on was that they did not want to spend a lot of money at the park. The others were that warnings needed to end and enforcement and fines needed to increase.
"This is not a dog problem, it's a people problem," said Councillor Sandy Bojechko, a self-confessed dog lover. "Keep your dogs under control and shut them up – people live there."
She also admonished dog owners to keep their pets on leashes in the on-leash areas.
"If you are not going to follow the rules, then you are going to get a ticket and it is going to cost you," said councillor Cherryl MacLeod.
Council voted to move the following items to the 2025 budget process for pricing and consideration: a self-locking gate for the dog park, self-locking gates for 5th Avenue, additional dog park signage, increased education and increased enforcement.
The purpose for the locking gates is to prevent the use of the dog areas during the time the park is closed from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Council will be deliberating next year's budget over the next few months.
The complete report can be found in the Nov. 18 city council agenda available at castlegar.ca.
