District of Squamish staff will soon seek council’s permission to start community engagement on off-leash dog parks in town.
The engagement has been a long time coming. It was over six years the district first started brainstorming about the need for off-leash dog areas.
It was in June last year that council made a motion to engage the community on four specific dog park locations.
Those four locations were: Eaglewind Park (Downtown), John Hunter Park (Valleycliffe), Raven Drive – BC Hydro Right of Way (Brennan Park East), and Hydro ROW – Ray Peters Trail
In August, district staff met with dog stakeholder groups to plan potential public engagement opportunities, with the hopes of allotting it some funds in 2019 budget.
That process, however, was delayed and is set to begin again this year.
District staff will be bringing the topic of off-leash dog parks to council soon, said Natasha Golbeck, a senior director of community services.
She said staff will discuss how to engage the community around the following objectives: how to achieve increased harmony in our recreation areas between dog-owners, non-dog owners and all recreation user groups, realistic rules and guidelines that are enforceable and public safety – in particular as it relates to interactions with wildlife as a result of off-leash dogs.
Demand for dedicated off leash locations has increased with growth in population and an increase in conflict between dogs and wildlife.
The budget for the fencing for the four off-leash areas, if all are approved, would range anywhere from $800,000 to a $1 million.
