It wasn’t until Teresa McNally opened her Saturday newspaper in mid-February that she learned of plans for an off-leash dog park in her backyard.
McNally was one of two residents from the Heritage Hills Housing Co-operative to address council last week. Both expressed frustration with inadequate notification about the off-leash dog park planned for Levasseur Road between Hudson Road and Gervais Road.
McNally said a notice was only sent to the housing co-operative’s head office, not to individual units. That notice was inadvertently tossed out by a volunteer who thought it was an advertisement.
“One would have thought that, knowing there was 50 units directly attached, someone would have done something to move information forward,” she said in an interview.
No chance for consensus
After a call to city hall, McNally said a staffer sent 50 pamphlets to the co-op’s recent budget meeting, but it still did not give the board enough time to form a consensus before the open house on Feb. 24.
“What has been removed is our community’s right to speak, discuss and come to a consensus,” she said. “As a co-operative, we are different from the rest of St. Albert.”
Poor notification was just one of McNally’s beefs with the dog park. She and her daughter suffer from medical problems that could be compounded by the dog park. Her daughter, a 25-year-old university student, has an auditory processing disorder that can render her deaf if exposed to too much noise or stress.
McNally said her health troubles leave her unable to drive and walking the extra six blocks around the dog park would be a burden, especially in the winter.
‘Slap in the face’
Sandra Hansen, a social worker and single mother living in the Heritage co-op, says she and many neighbours support the dog park project, but she is upset about poor consultation. She believes the co-operative was left out of the process because the residents are renters.
“People see renters as temporary members of a neighbourhood,” Hansen said in an interview. “I will agree with the fact that it’s a slap in the face.”
City manager Bill Holtby said the city will look at using other records, such as water services, to ensure that those who don’t own their own home will be included in future public notices.
“It certainly wasn’t purposeful,” he said. “We will alter the design to minimize the impact, but when city council did nothing with the presentation, we’ll still be going ahead.”
Council approved $140,000 in the 2010 budget for a dog park, with final designs up for review later this spring.
More information about the dog park is available at www.stalbert.ca/levasseur-road-dog-park-open-house.
