Despite the vocal opposition and emotional pleas of dog owners, the District of Saanich’s controversial “People, Pets and Parks” strategy will be implemented over the next five years.
Saanich council voted unanimously Wednesday night to support implementation of the strategy, that will change the way residents use the district’s parks, especially dog owners who will have to leash their dogs unless they are in designated areas.
Council added a wrinkle to the motion passed Wednesday night to develop a monitoring and evaluation program for PKOLS (Mount Douglas Park) — identified by many of those opposed to the strategy as a key site for dog walking — to measure the effectiveness of the strategy on that site.
While the vote to approve the strategy was unanimous, council was clearly torn by the decision, and many noted they had not been looking forward to making it.
“It’s been one of the top two or three things that has been most unpleasant to deal with as a councillor,” said Coun. Colin Plant. “And I take absolutely no pleasure in moving a motion that I know will cause so much dissent.”
Plant said his decision was based on the evidence before him, and the fact the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council and SPCA both wrote in support of the strategy.
“The leadership council weighing in has had a profound impact for me in our intended goal of reconciliation,” he said. “You can’t disregard that and then expect to have good relations.”
Plant conceded that if it was based solely on public input, the vote would have been a no-brainer.
“It would be very clear that the general public input has been largely in opposition. There’s no denying three quarters of the letters and 90 per cent of the public input has been in opposition,” he said. “I really don’t want to discount the public input, but I will say that on the whole, I don’t think the impediment of putting a dog on a leash outweighs the community good of having safe spaces and ecological preservation.”
Mayor Dean Murdock said he is well aware the strategy will place some limitations on people’s ability to use parks with their dogs.
“For me, one of the things that was going to be important in creating this strategy was that there would be a dedicated off-leash area at PKOLS,” he said. “I understand that it is very challenging to balance between the needs of protecting the natural environment and creating spaces for people to exercise with their dogs.”
Murdock said he too was moved by the W̱SÁNEĆ leadership’s support of the strategy and that there will be a chance to assess how effective the strategy will be.
Coun. Susan Brice said the strategy was never going to address every concern raised.
“I don’t think any of us realistically thought that that was going to be the outcome anyway,” she said. “But it does address most of the key issues, safety, enjoyment of the parks and the environment.”
The strategy, which has been in development for the last two years, has been billed as an attempt to balance the interests of park users, dog owners and commercial dog walkers.
It calls for improved waste management, increased park maintenance, better signage and increased education and communication around what is expected in the district’s parks.
But the biggest change will be an update to the Animal Bylaw to require all pets to be on-leash in Saanich parks unless they are within a designated leash-optional area.
Currently the bylaw allows dogs to be off-leash under owner control in all parks.
The draft has identified 57 of Saanich’s 172 parks that could have off-leash areas, and 12 of those would have fenced off-leash areas.
The strategy recommends a 1.5-kilometre trail loop within PKOLS and a four-hectare fenced area with trails in Cuthbert Holmes Park. It recommends that Cordova Bay Beach be off-leash year-round.
The change in leash requirements was what spurred hundreds of dog owners to address council this week and sign an online petition to stop Saanich from taking away off-leash options — as of Wednesday there were 8,815 signatures.
Coun. Zac de Vries said at the end of the day the strategy was about finding a compromise.
“That means we need to make sure that they are safe and engaging spaces that deliver excellent experiences for all. And that includes recognizing the important need for off-leash recreation,” he said.
The next step will be for Saanich staff to work on changing the bylaw. An amended bylaw is not expected to come to council for approval before the fall.
In the meantime, work will start on education for park users and creating improved signage for the parks.
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