WHflBYPRESS IUCUS page 7, Saturday May 24 'J DOGS Should Fido have a place to run free in town parks? By MIKE KOWALSKI Free Press Staff Writer The next meeting of Town council's operations commit- tee promises to be a real dog fight. Supporters and opponents of a proposal to permit dogs to run free in an enclosed section of Palmerston Park are expected to marshal their forces for a confrontation at the June 3 meeting. Committee members will hear deputations on a request to create an "off leash" zone in the northwest Whitby park. Should committee, and ultimately council, agree with the Palmerston Park Pet Association (PPPA), an.exemp- tion could be made to Town bylaws which require dog owners to keep their pets on a leash when on public prop- erty. Although north ward representative Don Mitchell is the only member of council to thus far indicate a willingness to consider the possibility of a 'pilot project' in the park, nearby residents are taking no-chances. Parks and recreation department staff have received several calls on the issue after council sent the matter back to committee for further review last week and a peti- tion against the proposal has been signed by all but two homeowners whose properties abut the area of the sug- gested off leash zone. In fact, many of those who signed the petition had also added their names to an earlier PPPA petition in support of the off leash zone concept. Only after reading the local newspapers did they learn that the intended site was be- hind their homes. "People came around with a petition asking for an off leash zone and my husband signed it," admitted Sugar Maple Crescent resident Janice Reid, author of the coun- ter petition. "He thought it wouldn't be in a residential zone and then we read it in the paper," said Reid. "We called (centre ward councillor) Shirley Scott and she said it would be in our backyard (if council agreed to the PPPA request)." Reid immediately drafted her own petition and then fired off a letter to council which cited 13 reasons for re- jecting the proposal, such as potential danger to children who play in the area; an increase in vehicle and foot traf- fic; noise; unsanitary conditions; the cost of erecting a fence around the leash-free zone, and the loss of a green- belt that separates homes on Sugar Maple Crescent and Honey Tree Court from the nearby Canadian Pacifie rail- way line. "We've been here seven years and while we have the dis- advantage of the trains, we knew about it when we bought our house," said Reid. "We back onto a greenbelt and we like it very much, but we feel it would devalue our properties if there was a dog run behind us." The owner of a frisky seven-year-old Toy Poodle namned Rusty, Reid said "seven or eight" other dog owners on her side of the street also agree that the proposed location is wrong and that it would be better suited in a non- residential setting. "Calgary has a huge dog run in an industrial area," said Reid in recalling a visit to the Alberta city. -"It's fenced-in and there's lots of parking," she said. Free Press phot by MARK REESOR "It's not that we're totally against it, but a residential area is not the right place for it." While PPPA spokesman Paul Graham was surprised to learn of Reid's petition, he insisted that his group did not mislead anyone into signing its petition. "We made it quite clear to them where it would be," said Graham, who also resides on Sugar Maple, but whose home is not adjacent to the intended site. "We specifically told them we were fighting for one in the park and most said it was a great idea." (According to the preamble, the PPPA petition called on council to amend Town bylaws to allow for the "creation of fenced off leash zones within existing and future parks in (sic) Durham Region.") Although many of the more than 700 signatures on its petition are of people from all over Whitby, PPPA began collecting names in the vicinity of the park, Graham said. The number of signatures indicates that the proposal has wide-spread support, noted Graham, who tried to al- lay area residents' fears that they will have to contend with barking and aggressive dogs and irresponsible own- ers who refuse to clean up after their pets. By setting aside an area for dogs to run free, any excre- ment not removed by the owners will be limited to a spe- cific location, rather than being scattered throughout the park, Graham said. As for letting dogs loose in a confined area, Graham cited Withrow Park in east Toronto as an example of a leash-free zone that works. "Their area is smaller than what we propose and I've seen 30 dogs of all breeds use it and there's no aggression, ail are wel behaved," he said. Graham also rejected arguments that children could be in danger, by pointing out that the chain link fence be- tween the railway tracks and greenbelt is often in need of repair. "If I was the parent of a smail child, I would be more concerned about them wandering down to get a closer look at the passing trains, than getting too close to a su- pervised area." '