A city resident has requested that City of Powell River relocate the Westview dog park.
At the May 16 city council meeting, Quebec Avenue resident Brian Hasselback appeared, indicating that he lives directly above that dog park for canines.
“I’m here today to request that the parks department relocate this facility,” said Hasselback. “The reason is simple. The constant barking from dogs is at times seriously affecting our quality of life. This is our dream home and at times it is ridiculous.
“Let me qualify up front that we like dogs. We have a dog and he’s part of the family. I have no issue with dog parks and I have no issue with tax dollars going towards them.”
Hasselback said he is vehemently opposed to situating these facilities or allowing them to exist in the middle of residential areas. He said it does not make any sense.
Hasselback outlined the city’s noise bylaw, which indicates that no person shall permit any animal, by its calls, cries, barks or other noises or sounds, to disturb the quiet peace, rest, enjoyment, comfort or convenience of the neighbourhood. He said another section of the bylaw indicated that dog owners would be in contravention if barks are audible after 8 pm and until 7 am.
“You, the city, are owners and operators of the dog park and it’s your responsibility to adhere to the bylaws that you also establish,” said Hasselback. “The city has put up a sign at one of the entrances with rules for humans and additional notes for pet owners. Suffice to say, rules need to be established, but there is zero enforcement.
“Most dogs don’t have a licence, some dogs are very aggressive, some owners don’t have leashes, and they don’t clean up waste. I saw a lady drop a dog off and leave, I guess to go shopping, and come back and get the dog later.”
Hasselback said there is zero enforcement and hours of operation, according to the signs at the park, are from dawn until dusk. He said dawn is 5 am and dusk is 10 pm. He said those hours don’t follow the city’s noise bylaw.
“A lot of the owners are good and responsible people,” said Hasselback. “There are very few, however, who make the effort to stop their dogs barking. We can be woken up at 6 am and it’s not uncommon at all. It often goes into the pitch-black night. I’ve been woken up at 3 am to the sound of a dog barking and people are walking around with headlamps on.
“Dog fights are not uncommon and one time I had to intervene with a people fight because they were hitting each other with dog throwing sticks.”
Hasselback said he has gone to the park to try to reason with people and a couple have greeted him with expletives.
“This dog park needs to be relocated into an area that isn’t in the middle of residences,” said Hasselback. “The city owns 125 pieces of property. Surely, there has to be one or more that can be utilized that is not in a residential area.”
Chief administrative officer Lisa Bhopalsingh said city staff members are aware of the matters Hasselback brought forward. She said there is the issue of how the city is enforcing its bylaws and whether they are adequate. There is also the bigger picture of land use as the city is getting ready for the background work for its official community plan review, she added.
City councillor Cindy Elliott said there appears to be problems with enforcement and she was wondering what the current practices are for monitoring the use of dog parks.
Director of parks, recreation and culture Jamie Bretzlaff said there is virtually no monitoring and that there attempts to attend parks on a weekly rotation. As far as sitting and monitoring any of the parks, there currently is not a practice for monitoring, he added.
Elliott said she was curious about video surveillance.
Bretzlaff said there have been some recent conversations about video surveillance but said there are vandalism challenges. He said there have not been discussions about video in dog parks but the department is open to those conversations.
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