- Target:
- City of Sarnia, Parks and Recreation
- Region:
- Canada
Planning for a dog park at Clearwater Diamonds has changed from its initial concept. Originally Sarnia City council approved an area "adjacent" (outside) the diamonds as the dog park trial location.
The proposal has evolved - to convert the regularly used baseball diamond to the dog park. Taxpayers fund the use of this property for sports. Several leagues and teams who pay for use already use the diamond and expect to use it for the future.
The issue is that there are several parks within moments of Clearwater which could be more suitable, and actually develop new uses in underused parks. Coronation Park, Woodstone Park, Cardiff Acres Park, Heritage Park and Lansdowne Park are all locations with more area available and do not disrupt an existing use. Consider the west side of Sherwood Village Park. An addition of a dog park to Sherwood Park would actually improve and expand that park's functionality. Why disrupt fee-paying user groups when there are other options?
The dog park has a "trial" period approved by the City from November to April. What is the purpose of this trial period? The baseball diamonds of course have little use from November-April so few people will complain. In April when diamond scheduling will start for baseball, two-pitch and softball teams is when this "trial" will begin.
When fee-paying sports teams come to realize that the baseball park may be permanently lost without any direct consultation - there will be a problem. All sports teams contact information is available to the City as they are registered in order to pay for use - so it's not hard to reach out to those groups. Why didn't this happen? Let's avoid a fight and help the dog lobbyists find a more viable location.
This petition opposes the use, or conversion of any existing baseball diamond at Clearwater Park to a dog park. Also we object to the lack of direct consultation with existing fee-paying user groups in this process, and the undersigned request City of Sarnia Council and Parks and Recreation Department work with the dog park lobbyists to find a more suitable location for a dog park.
Our youth and adult citizens need sports facilities, and once gone the cost to replace is out of reach for our community.
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The Stop the Clearwater Diamond Location Dog Park petition to City of Sarnia, Parks and Recreation was written by Kevin Cook and is in the category City & Town Planning at GoPetition.