Hi Kitchissippi.
Last year, partly in response to recent incidents including a bite but also reports of aggressive dogs negatively interacting with children in Reid Park, I became open to modifications to the park that could help minimize some of those interactions.
Some residents will recall that one of my first files when I got elected in 2014 was to put a pause on the previous councillor’s park improvement plans, and re-consult. I was very happy with the results of that, which resulted in the configuration that you see today. The choice to use a low fence around the area where we intended for off-leash dog exercise, separate from the pool and play structure, was a deliberate choice. Dog owners did not want to feel fenced in. Today, I have to recognize that it has become controversial, and I’m open to making changes to make the park safer for all users.
I want to be really clear that any changes to Reid Park would have to be requested by me (as the ward 15 councillor). There is no City budget to do a project here. Nothing will move ahead unless I ask for it, and I’m committed to continuing consultation ahead of any decision.
Recently, the City did a consultation at my request about potential changes, including a more substantial fence around the exercise area, a more substantial fence around a smaller exercise area, or the status quo. They also, in the two options to modify the fence, included a proposal to replace the dirt with stone chips.
You can read the survey results on the City’s consultation page here. What seems clear to me is that there is an appetite for a more substantial fence and delineation between the exercise area and the rest of the park. What I’ve read in social media and responses copied to my office, though, is there is almost no appetite to replace the dirt with stone chips.
I’d like to hear more. Given the time frames, it’s likely that it will be the next councillor who will have to make a final decision to move forward with something, but I’d like to keep this moving forward.
One of the things that I have already heard loud and clear is that the current park is currently entirely open for off-leash use, subject to the normal prohibition against having dogs within 5m of play structures and pools. The issue I think we’re facing is that that rule is not being respected. One of the possibilities is to change the rules to more precisely allow off-leash use only in the fenced off area. If that were to proceed, the community would need to request that change from the City, who would do a consultation according to their formal process for making changes to leash rules in parks.
Every possibility is on the table. I feel it would be appropriate to hear from more people. Send me a note describing how you feel about potential changes, alternatives to the options that were presented by the City, and whether you would support changes to the off-leash rules.
I’ll ask folks to email me at jeff.leiper@ottawa.ca. Although my records will be destroyed if I’m not longer in office, my commitment is to have my staff maintain your feedback as spreadsheet entries so that all of the feedback can be presented to the next councillor during the transition. This blog and my office social media will become dormant under election rules as of August 28, but please be assured we’ll be reading and collecting it all.