Dog owners at a pilot off-leash park, just north of Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue, have won the right to appeal the city’s decision to shut down the park.
A Superior Court recently ruled that the Ledbury Off-Leash Dog Owners Association can legally challenge the closure of the off-leash area at Ledbury Park. Complaints from neighbouring residents prompted the city to shut it down. The dog owners’ group won the judicial appeal on the basis that the city’s policy outlined five reasons to shut down an off-leash area, none of which were properly carried out, when the Ledbury Park location was closed, according to a spokesperson for the Ledbury Off-Leash Dog Owners Association, John Conway. The court found that the city did not apply the policy directly, said Conway, a former lawyer.
“The basis for the decision was that ‘conflicts between park users cannot be resolved,’ ” he said. “That was the legal basis behind the decision [to close the park]. As for the alleged conflict between users, they required an investigation. None of that had happened, that I’m aware of,” Conway added.
However, Ward 16 Coun. Karen Stintz said the city had adhered to the policy and had the right to shut down the pilot park.
“I believe we applied the policy [properly],” Stintz said. “We were trying to work with the community to figure out how to incorporate an off-leash park … but none of the solutions were satisfactory to the community at large.” Stintz cited planting trees, as one method her office used to mitigate noise, and added that discussions with the different community groups to potentially relocate the park were not fruitful.
But Conway said his group is willing to work with nearby residents to address noise concerns, and he is skeptical of how many complaints were actually made.
“As to whether or not the noise was excessive, I certainly did not think it was. It just seemed to me that if the noise bylaw was being infringed, then there was a procedure that should be followed,” he said. “If there is a basis for complaint, then why don’t [they] change the hours of operation? I hear complaints about gates clanking, that’s an easy fix too,” he added.
After the dog owners won the appeal, Stintz introduced a new policy.
“We’ve changed our policy because of this experience,” she said. “Now we will no longer consider a designated off-leash area where the fence is shared by the park and residential property.”
The Ledbury Park off-leash area will remain open to the public pending the outcome of the appeal, which Conway said is expected in the spring of 2012.
