Construction of a walking path is going ahead north of Black Diamond’s Government Road despite concerns raised by nearby homeowners.
Black Diamond Town council agreed at its July 23 meeting to obtain quotes and designs for a 230-metre long gravel pathway along a road allowance north of Government Road into the town’s off-leash dog park.
Mayor Ruth Goodwin said the Town is liable if someone is injured on the existing steep, worn trail citizens have created on their own, and has begun the process to construct a wider, more level gravel pathway.
The proposed pathway is part of the Town’s Trails and Pathway Master Plan, developed 13 years ago, which was allotted a budget of about $67,000.
Goodwin said the gravel pathway will provide a secondary access to the off-leash dog park. The primary access on the north end of 2nd Avenue North is located on private land, she said.
“This will be a secondary pathway and the only pathway into the dog park that we own,” she said. “If the homeowner chooses to close (the primary entrance) down, this provides another access.”
Concerns expressed by nearby homeowners—in the form of letters, presentations to council and the Parks and Pathway Committee, and a petition with two dozen signatures—included the potential for dogs to run at large and defecate on private property, increased traffic, trees being removed for construction, and the pathway becoming a permanent access to the off-leash dog park if the pathway is enhanced.
Mary Stollery, who lives in the area, said she would like to see the trees remain along the trail and she doesn’t want the pathway to extend all the way to the dog park.
“It would have been nice possibly to have had that criteria put in for the design, but I don’t think we have a say now in what happens,” she said. “We would like a less conspicuous design so it would continue to be used more by local people and not by visitors.”
Stollery and other nearby residents approached council last month expressing concerns about the potential for increased traffic, dogs roaming the neighbourhood off leash and noise.
“You can’t complain once it’s a done deal, that’s why we tried to give input at this point when it’s still in process,” she said. “Our concerns were heard, but now it’s going out to tender so it will be up to the tendering committee.”
A survey posted on the Town’s website earlier this month reveals 55 per cent of 356 voters agreed with the development of the pathway.
“It’s providing a means of transportation through the town,” Goodwin said of the pathway. “It provides an area of socialization, as well as linking some of the locations within town for recreation.”
Goodwin said she’s confident all concerns raised by concerned residents are being addressed as the Town moves forward on the project.
“The questions and concerns that have been raised by staff, council and residents have all been addressed in either writing or the recommendations for decision on June 19,” she said.
The Town’s Parks and Recreation Committee, which met July 4 with five residents in attendance—most opposing the project—recommended council proceed with the pathway.
It suggested that signs indicating on-leash requirements be installed at the top of the hill and end of the pathway, and that a DogiPot dispenser be installed at the top of the hill.
Goodwin said the Town plans to review its Trails and Pathways Master Plan, a task that will encompass a collaboration between council, administration, the Parks and Pathway Committee and citizens, later this year.
