Dog owners, city look at options for off-leash areas

By Collin Gallant on November 20, 2018.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com @CollinGallant

Dog owners and city parks staff are looking a number of spots in the city to boost the off-leash experience after new restrictions go into place in a well-used area in 2019.

The Saamis Archaeological site will see on-leash, on-path rules come into place January 1 to help protect the historic value and vegetation at the site.

That plan has been panned by dog owners, though the city has said the potential for new trails and potential a creek access is in the works.

As well, says parks general manager James Will, the parks department will use this winter to season to discern, planners are also looking at where relatively simple improvements can be made

“There are some areas that are really good for walking dogs and we’re asking ‘is there anything easy that we can do in those areas?’,” said Will.

That could include brush clearing to make water access for dogs, bringing water to an existing fenced dog-park at Saratoga Park, near Seven Persons Creek and South Railway Street.

Other improvements there could include tree planting, some makeshift terrain changes, but other land among about 4,000 acres in the city’s environmental reserve — floodprone or heavily sloped land not suitable for building — may also be improved.

Ryan Mitchell owns a local dog walking service, and he’s attempting to drum up support for a larger, unfenced off-leash specific area southeast of the Heritage Pavillion in Strathcona Island Park.

“I’m getting a lot of positive response,” he told the News Monday, citing talks with city officials as well as the dog owners he’s met in his travels.

“It’s set up fairly well right now, but it would have to be secured,” said Mitchell of the site that buts up against Industrial Avenue and also is bordered by a portion of the trial network.

“You need something to keep them off the road, and something to separate the dogs from runners and cyclists, but it’s about 12 acres and a good walk.”

That land was badly flooded in 2010, and is deemed “environmental reserve” where dogs are currently permitted to run off-leash. That has been in place for more than a decade but not all of the 22 separate sites are well marked, well known, or accessible.

The designation also caused some confusion in the debate over Saamis site, which is not legally a park, though it’s commonly referred to as such.

Will said that a wide array of opinions exist in the general public regarding what’s needed in a dog park.

The fenced Saratoga Park facility, added two years ago, is a benefit to some, but others say large breed dogs in a relatively small area,

“One of the things we know is that water access is an issue (for many),” said Will, noting that his office is hoping to speak with community groups about the issue

That could including clearing brush at sites with water bodies to give dogs a clear run to cool down, though actual construction or shore lining of creek beds often requires environmental permitting from either the province or federal authorities.

The city is examining the potential for a hard structure at Saamis site, near a bridge that’s a popular spot for dogs running into the Seven Persons Creek, but officials have warned that could take several years.

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