City Council Committee Considering Motion to Ban New OLAs in Parks Under 2 Acres

This coming Wednesday, January 13th, the Parks & Environment Committee of Toronto City Council will consider Councillor Adam Vaughan's motion to ban the establishment of an off-leash area in any park under 2 acres. This is not a direct threat to Ramsden (which is bigger than 2 acres), but it would effectively rule out off-leash entirely in several downtown neighbourhoods, including the Annex! There is a pending application for off-leash in Huron/Lowther Park; this application would be scuttled if Vaughan's motion succeeds.

Vaughan's motion would also gut the City's brand new off-leash policy, making nearly half of the City's parks ineligible in one fell swoop.

If you believe that off-leash belongs in downtown Toronto neighbourhoods, please consider writing to the Parks & Environment Committee (pec@toronto.ca) to urge them to reject Councillor Vaughan's motion. You can also write directly to the Committee members: Councillor Paula Fletcher (councillor_fletcher@toronto.ca), Councillor Raymond Cho (councillor_cho@toronto.ca), Councillor Ron Moeser (councillor_moeser@toronto.ca), Councillor Frances Nunziata (councillor_nunziata@toronto.ca), Councillor Karen Stintz (councillor_stintz@toronto.ca), Councillor Michael Walker (councillor_walker@toronto.ca).

Again, the Committee meets this coming Wednesday morning to consider the motion.

For those interested, here's Councillor Vaughan's motion: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2010/pe/bgrd/backgroundfile-26063.pdf