ABOUT THE PROJECT
The City of Calgary, in partnership with the Northern Hills Community Association and Creating Coventry, is looking for feedback on the proposal to use provincial land as a dog friendly, multi-use area for the local community to enjoy. The space is a strip of land between the northern edge of Coventry Hills and Stoney Trail (See Map)
The vision is that this space would be dog friendly (i.e off leash is available) however not an exclusive area for dog users. We have also heard that this space could also be a place for local art to be displayed and an area for people to just get out and walk.
New infrastructure would be minimal but would include garbage cans and potentially benches. Fencing around the area is not something that would be included in this project and the existing wildlife fence would be the boundary. Formal Parking would not be provided for this site.
WHY IS THIS AREA BEING PROPOSED?
The area proposed is a provincial utility corridor and we would be seeking permission to use it for as long as possible. It would still be provincial land, but the City would enter into an agreement to maintain the space and make it accessible for residents to use. Currently the land is not accessible.
We see this as a space that the residents of Coventry Hills will mostly benefit from. Due to limited parking availability, we wish to encourage this area to be seen as a local space for people to visit without using a motor vehicle.
There is an existing “ranch style” wildlife fence to separate Stoney trail from this space but it is not the typical chain-link. Some gates would be installed to limit the encroachment onto provincial land that there is no permission to access. Garbage cans will be installed where they can be serviced easily.
There may also be scope to increase the size of the available space further West along the corridor. At this time, we are only looking at the space shown on the map.
Concerns that we wish to mitigate:
- Parking – People will invariably drive to parks although this is intended to be a local space for the community to walk/bike to. There are some limited parking opportunities beside Colville park (COV101).
- Garbage – There will be Garbage Cans installed by the entrances. We have a Bylaw to enforce, however to promote better stewardship, Community support/advocacy is best. We are looking at bin bags/poop bag dispensers to be placed in conjunction with community supported partnership for maintaining supply.
- Noise – the existing traffic on Stoney Trail will offset any noise concerns.
- Smell – garbage bins will be emptied on a regular basis to manage smell concerns.
- Enforcement – we have Bylaws that can be enforced; however, Community Support/Vigilance will be the best approach. Provision of dedicated space often leads to more responsible pet ownership practices.
- Privacy – adjacent backyard fences are 6ft solid panels that provide privacy.
