The good news is we finally have an answer to the infamous question “Who let the dogs out?” – the Town of Cochrane. The bad news is some residents aren’t happy about it.
Town council passed a motion Jan. 25 for Cochrane’s administration to conduct a shared-space off-leash pilot project in the Sunset community from May 1-Sept. 1.
According to the Open Space Master Plan as well as Neighbourhood Plans, an off-leash shared-space area is shared by multiple users (runners, cyclists, dog walkers, etc.) while a dog park is a fenced area strictly for dog use.
The pilot will run each day from 9 p.m.-9 a.m. by the lower storm pond on the south end of Sunset Ridge, across from St. Timothy’s School.
According to Suzanne Gaida, the senior manager of community sevices with the town, the administration consulted a number of their professionals to develop a set of criteria an area must meet in order to be considered for the pilot project.
“We pulled together planning staff to look at future areas that are being developed, we talked to our parks people as they manage the current off-leash areas, and municipal enforcement was at the table as well to consult about where people are currently going in terms of unofficial off-leash areas,” Gaida explained.
Among some of the criteria the administration used to determine the qualified areas were: distance from schools, must be easily serviceable, away from known wildlife corridors, and they must be spread out throughout the communities.
“We really didn’t look at parking as a need because we feel that these shared-space off-leash areas would be really to service the community (they’re located in).
“Based on that criteria, we identified 15 sites and then narrowed it down to eight potential sites that were best fitting – none of the sites probably fit any of the criteria perfectly.”
The town’s administration also determined the cost would be approximately $4,000 per pilot area, which would go towards the installation of garbage cans and bag dispensers for pet waste and signage.
Joyce Morey, a resident of Cochrane residing in the condominiums directly backing onto the proposed area, is concerned that this pilot was not well thought out.
“I don’t think the way it’s set out is a good idea – I’m not against an off-leash dog park but I don’t think the way they have it set out is the best way for everybody,” Morey said.
As a former dog owner, Morey can empathize with the need for there to be an off-leash area within their community, but she does not think the current project is fair to dog owners or anyone else. She specifically mentioned the hours of operation make it hard for dog owners to make use of the area.
“Somebody commented to me it’s like giving a toddler a chocolate bar and not unwrapping it for them,” Morey said with a laugh.
“The hours also set the people up whose houses border the dog park for noise at 10 or 11 o’clock at night.”
She also commented the path in question is a “favourite path” for people in the area, especially families with toddlers and older children on bikes. She thinks that mixed with off-leash dogs running around is not a good idea.
Safety is a huge concern for Morey as she personally has been hurt while walking her dog.
“I was watching where my dog was going and somebody else’s dog was playing and cut right in front of me. I went fully down, I bruised my wrist, skinned my nose which left a scar, my mouth was bleeding, my nose was bleeding, and my legs were bleeding. And I’m an adult – I’d hate for that to happen to a child.
“Also, you don’t all of a sudden say to people who’ve bought a home here, ‘Oh guess what, you’re going to get a dog park behind you here now and you don’t have any say about it.’ ”
Morey is also concerned about the effect this will have on the wildlife and vegetation in the area. She thinks it may scare birds off from nesting in the area and that the “starter trees” in the area may get trampled.
She addressed these concerns in an email she sent to the town councilors and mayor. She heard back from a few of them saying her concerns had been noted.
The president of the board of directors for the Sunset Pointe Condominium Association, Theresa Kline, also sent council a letter to express concerns on the board’s behalf. She expressed many of the same concerns as Morey and heard back from some of the councillors who said the board’s concerns were noted.
“One of the issues we have is with pet waste – when people have their dogs on a leash, they usually don’t go outside that walkway area so it’s easier to find and pick up the pet waste. When dogs go bounding off into the rough, people don’t pick it up.”
Even though there are two trash cans and bag dispensers located along the walkway, the area is suffering from pet owners not cleaning up after their pets. Kline believes this problem will only get worse with an off-leash area.
“Safety is also an issue, a shared-use space that includes off-leash seems very strange to me. You’ve got people with skateboards and bicycles, older people going for walks, little kids running around, kids learning to ride their bikes, and then off-leash dogs running around – it doesn’t seem like a good mix.”
Kline noted most people are good about controlling their dogs but there will always be people who don’t follow the rules. The town encourages anyone who witnesses any violations to contact the town’s municipal enforcement.
Coun. Jeff Toews is an advocate for the pilot because it fills a need Cochrane is lacking. He originally made the motion at council for administration to develop the report and to run this pilot project back in Oct. 2015.
“I know the Open Space Master Plan identified some off-leash areas but I wanted to have thorough direction for just strictly off-leash areas in all the new communities,” Toews explained.
“There are over 4,000 dogs in Cochrane – approximately 700 of which are up in Sunset with no off-leash area. This is a long-term solution for getting more vehicles off the road, it’s a solution for quality of life for residents so people don’t have to drive somewhere to walk their dog.”
Toews said a lot of the emails he’s received recently are from people in favour of the project but who are concerned about its hours of operation. The people he’s heard from that are not in favour of the project are concerned with the disruption of wildlife at the pond, dogs potentially running up to their back fence, and people not picking up after their pets.
“In anything like this there’s a balance to be had – I have met with residents and walked the area and walked it on my own. There’s things we can control and there’s things we can’t control. People are either going to pick up after their dog or they’re not.”
He said bylaw officers will cover the area as much as they can but residents have to come forward when they witness violations.
“We’ll find out from this project whether this is something that a majority of the community wants or if it’s something that maybe won’t work in Cochrane. But at the end of the day, if we don’t try it we’re never going to know for sure,” Toews said.
“I think for town council to just sit back and ignore the fact that half the households in town have dogs is irresponsible. We have to try to come up with a solution.”
Morey’s solution to her and Kline’s concerns is simple – make the off-leash area fenced and move it away from the path. There is currently a fence lining the storm pond which she thinks should be moved over and extended so off-leash dogs can have one side and everyone else can use the side beside the pond with the pathway.
In the months leading up to the pilot start date, town council and administration will determine the parameters of the project and will determine criteria that must be met in order for it to be considered successful or not. The administration intends to set up an email account for residents to direct feedback to throughout the pilot project. They also plan to conduct surveys garnering feedback.
