TheBulletin.ca Journal of Downtown Toronto
It’d be a lot easier to get a fence for an off-leash dog run in David Crombie Park if neighbours could get together and agree on a plan, Downtown Councilor Pam McConnell told the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association in May.
She recalled a previous SLNA discussion on the hot topic and said it evoked a lot of disagreement. “The first time it was brought here it really was a clash,” McConnell said. Audience members agreed.
McConnell was given a 311-name petition calling for a fenced area at Crombie Park. “We’re anxious to get something done,” said the member who presented it.
McConnell said efforts are being made to find a solution. She explained Parks and Recreation staff, whose permission is needed for a fence, has been hesitant to install one. “Their by-laws indicate that it’s off-leash but it is un-fenced.”
She said there’s been much disagreement over the matter by park users themselves and suggested the SLNA might be able help by getting together a group to come up with a compromise.
“We’re looking at trying to … get a couple of people from two different or three different directions with different interests and see whether or not there is a plan,” McConnell said, adding that so far she has “not found that sweet spot” of community agreement.
She noted that dogs in the park can interrupt baseball games by running after the ball, tripping up the players then running onto the road.
“At the moment it’s chaotic,” she conceded.
She referred toan editorial in The Bulletin earlier this year that suggested fencing off a long dog run on the park’s south side, bordered by the ball diamond fence that would be just north of it.
But, said McConnell, the city has just finished putting in a lot of greenery there and asked is that now to be undone. She said attempts are in the works to get a dog run behind the Backstage, a condo at Scott Street and The Esplanade, that would decrease the number of dogs at Crombie park.
She told a resident who asked for a temporary fence, “that would be the worst of your nightmares” because of the community’s “huge disagreement” over it.
“I think people are more willing than they were the first time. Once we get a plan it doesn’t take very much time to put a fence up,” she said.
She said unless there’s a “community buy-in” Parks and Rec won’t budge on the issue. She said a fenced area along the park’s south side sounded like a smart idea—even though that side has been recently greened.
She said dog owners in Moss Park condominiums are experiencing similar canine concerns. She said a private donor recently made $27 million available for a community facility “which gives us the leverage to re-do the whole park … We’re going to try and also put a dog park in there.”
For more coverage of the SLNA meeting, including McConnell’s poverty reduction plans, visit www.thebulletin.ca.
On another topic, McConnell talked about the need to reduce poverty and noted $25 million was put in this year’s city budget for the purpose and another $25 million is hoped will go to the cause next year.
She said the city is looking at coming up with a funding plan that would take percentages from different city revenues.
Then it would put the money into a sustainable reserve to fund poverty reduction efforts.
“We need to invest in more affordable housing, we need more accessible transportation, affordable transportation and reliable transportation,” she said. “We need to look at the services we offer as a city and make sure they target the people who need it … and no one is being left out.”
She said she’d like to see opportunities for people to have their own jobs and if not that then sustainable income support. She mentioned housing and child care subsidies as forms of support.
She said Toronto is a diverse city with people of different needs. “We have a whole lot of faces and experiences that we need to address.” She said it’s important that the city and the province work together on their poverty reduction strategies.
