Victoria city council is considering a pilot project to create an off-leash dog park at Royal Athletic Park.
Staff have been asked to determine if an area on the east side of the park, gated and fenced, that abuts Cook Street could be established as a dog park for use from 6-10 a.m. and 5-7 p.m. daily.
Coun. Sarah Potts said the motion was brought forward by the North Park Community Association because there is currently no off-leash dog run in the downtown area.
Potts said even with events and sports returning, there are still areas of the park that aren’t being used.
According to a staff report, in 2019, the park was booked for just 25 per cent of the year.
“There certainly is a need for this and there certainly is an opportunity to make use of all of the green space at Royal Athletic Park,” Potts said.
Potts had support letters from the North Park Neighbourhood Association, the Victoria Downtown Residents’ Association and the Hillside Quadra Neighbourhood Advisory Council.
Sandra Severs, president of the Downtown Residents’ Association, said the off-leash area would meet the needs of residents of not just North Park and Hillside-Quadra but those living in the northern part of the downtown Harris Green neighbourhood.
“With massive developments ready to break ground between Herald and Fisgard Streets and the continuing development of the Hudson District, the need for suitable off-leash areas and green space will only grow,” she said.
Sarah Murray, executive director of the North Park Residents Association, noted Royal Athletic Park is a city-owned green space often unused and off-limits to residents and taxpayers for the majority of the year
“An off-leash dog park at Royal Athletic Park is one community building step towards balancing the multiple burdens carried by the humans (and dogs) of North Park, with some neighbourhood benefits that begin to dismantle the fences which deny North Park of equitable opportunity to individual and community wellbeing,” she said.
There was also support in some corners of the council chamber Thursday, with Coun. Ben Isitt noting the park is empty much of the year.
“The reality of the historic use of the facility is non-use. So, sitting on a large inventory of municipal green space in an inner-city neighborhood that does not get used is … the default usage of that land,” he said.
Isitt said the motion suggests the pilot project would accommodate the park’s regular users, including the Harbourcats baseball team, football games and special events like Beer Fest and Rifflandia.
But not all were convinced.
Coun. Marianne Alto said Royal Athletic Park is a unique facility intended for sports-related uses.
“I believe that the more that we chip away at Royal Athletic Park and its capacity to do that, the more that we actually lose a really unique gem in the city,” she said. “I acknowledge the issues that we’re trying [to address] but I think there are better ways to solve them.”
Coun. Stephen Andrew pointed out council keeps taking on off-leash issues as they pop up rather than dealing with the bigger problem. He noted that the city has plans to do a comprehensive review of off-leash areas next year.
“Let’s do the comprehensive review on it. Let’s not waste more time trying to chip away at what I think is going to be a comprehensive review and policy decision of council when this comes back to the table,” he said.
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