Dear Editor:
After voting it down twice in three years, the Summerland Council has changed its mind, reversed its decisions and now have a plan to permanently turn our beautiful Peach Orchard Beach Park into a single use park – for dogs.
The plan, about to go to the budget stage, is to place permanent fencing, and inside that fencing, build tables, benches and shade coverings, for the sole use of dog owners.
Yes, most of the dog owners love this location. Why wouldn’t they? It’s one of the most picturesque places in all of Summerland.
However the dogs don’t care. The dogs want to get together and run and play and do their business, but they don’t need a lake view to do that. The building of a community of dog owners is beneficial, however there is no reason whatsoever to believe it wouldn’t remain a community at any other more appropriate location.
This jewel of Summerland, as it has been called, once was a place to gather for weddings, family reunions, BBQs and picnics, ball-toss, sunbathing, along with major events such as the Giants Head Grind, triathlons and concerts. Since the temporary off-leash, fenced-in dog park was erected in May of this year, taking up two-thirds of the total area of the park, most of this activity has come to a halt.
The lack of space, the noise from the dog park and the lack of parking, which was already an issue and is now even more limited, seems to have driven the people who once used this multi-use park area for their recreational activities to move elsewhere.
Most residents agree Summerland needs a fenced-in, off-leash dog park, however having it located in the only grassed park, on the lake, in Summerland, only a few hundred metres from the existing off-leash dog park/beach, within Peach Orchard Park, is not the right location.
We are dog owners ourselves and used to enjoy the park when it was on-leash from May to October and off-leash in winter months until April. This allowed the above-mentioned activities to coexist with the dogs/owners in the park.
With the large, one-acre dog area now in place, the noise level of dogs barking and owners yelling, has increased tremendously, taking away the enjoyment of park from the immediate area residents as well as others who once used the park, including many Summerland residents, tourists and the campers from Peach Orchard Campground.
This issue needs to be revisited, a more suitable location needs to be found, no matter how long it takes and how difficult it may be.
To place the dog park and permanent fencing in Peach Orchard Beach Park, only to get this item off the agenda, to quote one councilor, after years of effort is clearly not the right reason to place it there.
Mike Kosmack
Summerland