Summerland Dog Owners Association

Thank you for your support!
Please Sign our petition

Drop of a letter or send emails of support to Summerland Council
(NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 17, 2023)
Let them know that you want to keep this a permanent off-leash dog park!

EMAIL: allcouncil@summerland.ca
CITY HALL: 13211 Henry Ave, Summerland

ATTEND AND SPEAK UP AT THE UPCOMING COUNCIL MEETING at City Hall Tentative DECEMBER 19th, Evening Session (Date/Time to be confirmed)

to show your support for this park to stay!

COMMENTS FROM SUPPORTERS:

Yes, please save. I have one deaf dog but will have more deaf dogs coming up. So keep Peach Orchard Dog Park. Please. No houses around and I do not see any activities on the park for years, but now a dog park. Wonderful. Please keep this dog park.

J.L.

Agree.. dog parks are not just for the dogs. I have made some very good friends that I have met through having my dog. We all enjoy our outdoor space and as mentioned that space was not used because it was inhabited by many geese and their droppings... Just my thoughts, but this p[ark is not just for our dogs bit for their owners to enjoy also.

L.B.

I live not far from this park, and would take my kids there to throw frisbees and fly model rockets. Not something you can do with dogs nearby, not without bothering the dogs or having the dogs bother the kids.

So, at first, I wasn’t thrilled to have this space reserved for dogs like this.

HOWEVER. I also take walks fairly often, and my route takes me to this park. And, unlike the bike lanes in Penticton, this dog park gets use. A LOT. Far more often than I’ve ever seen it used for other things. Even in the pitch dark or 5pm last week, I saw a family pull in to the parking lot and get their dog out for playtime.

Clearly, this space is being well used and appreciated by local dog owners.

I do not have a dog, and I’m losing use of this space for my kids, so I hope it means something that I SUPPORT this space being an off-leash dog park. It’s so very clearly needed. There are lots of other places I can go to launch rockets with my kids, and even more where we can throw frisbees or hit balls, and the playground and waterpark aren’t affected. So I hop others can see their way to letting dog owners have this space. Peace.

M.M.

Fully agree. There is still plenty of green space at Peach Orchard plus the sand volleyball court, the shelter used for tons of birthday parties, the spray park, beaches everywhere. Lots have made friends at the dog park. It’s a community. nearly half of Summerland residents own a dog. I hope people email council or show up to show support for the park to stay.

C.J.

SDOA Letter to Council:

Good Evening Mayor and Council, 

We have concerns about an online petition circulating around apparently from residents of Tuscan Terrace which will likely be used as part of a presentation to council on December 19th, 2023 against the dog park. We are concerned that their reported 650 signatures will be seen as legitimate and equivalent to our most recent hand-collected petition which we have been conducting this fall.

On their Petition website: https://www.restorepeachorchard.com/, clear misinformation is being presented to readers in almost every statement:

On September 26, 2023, considering the feedback from those negatively affected by the temporary dog park, the vote tally was 4 to 2, with the outcome indicating a negative result. Peach Orchard Park was determined not to be a suitable site for a permanent dog park.

This gives the impression to people signing the petition that Council had voted that Peach Orchard was NOT a suitable location, when in fact the motion to make it Permanent (at that time) was simply defeated.  This misrepresents the discussion Council had regarding the issue (implying a lack of support), the desire for extending the trial (based on the broad success of the park), as well as the intent of the park to continue to be investigated.  It also ignores further Council discussion at the November 7th meeting which saw broad council support for making the park permanent and a desire to include it in the upcoming budget discussions.  The petition organizers are (either by mistake or with intent) misrepresenting the words and discussion Council had on the issue.

The preservation of environmentally sensitive areas is pivotal in upholding ecological balance and safeguarding biodiversity, integral to our community’s well-being. The dog park results in a disturbance to the natural habitat, which endangers local wildlife, evident in the absence of ducks, birds, geese, and eagles since the dog park’s establishment. Dogs, by their nature, can have unintended consequences on plant and animal life, leading to a decline in biodiversity.

Presenting the dog park area as environmentally sensitive and natural habitat is completely incorrect.  It is neither.  The grass part of the park itself was initially and deliberately created over undeveloped shoreline, wiping out any existing riparian area decades before the dog park. Currently we can witness that eagles have not been displaced, and ducks and geese are considered nuisance wildlife in the park and the fact that they are no longer overrunning the field has been seen as a benefit!  The park also does NOT encroach on the recent shoreline remedial areas which could be seen as restorative habitat, and the existing planted grass field is not a space that brings to mind concerns about “biodiversity”.  Peach Orchard is not environmentally sensitive bird habitat, yet the petition misrepresents it as exactly that.

Placing a dog park in close proximity to playgrounds raises significant concerns regarding the safety of children. While dogs can undoubtedly be wonderful companions, their presence may present a risk to young children. Many of the dog owners fail to follow the on-leash policy outside of the current temporary dog park, leading to further concerns about the well-being of children, as well as others using the park. The mix of unleashed dogs and children in play areas may increase the likelihood of accidents or confrontations, jeopardizing the safety of both children and pets. 

The park is separated significantly from children play areas, where the survey leads to the impression that the park is mixed in directly with children play areas. Peach Orchard was already off-leash during the off season for many years with minimal concerns and certainly no fear-mongering about dogs being a real and present danger to children. Now that there is actually a fenced place to isolate the dog play from other users, the petitioners make the outlandish implication that unleashed dogs are now mixing with children directly because the dog park exists!  

Placing a dog park near residential areas led to noise and nuisance issues for residents. Barking, increased traffic, lack of parking space, and waste management problems all negatively impact the quality of life for those living nearby and those trying to enjoy recreation activities in the park. It is crucial to prioritize the well-being and tranquility of all Summerland residents who have chosen to make this area their home, as well as those who choose to use the park for park activities such as picnics, barbeques, birthday parties, yoga and Zumba classes, walking, running, volleyball, baseball, walking dogs on the leash, soccer, swimming, family reunions, school day trips, and weddings. These typical community park activities seen in the park in the past were minimal or almost nonexistent since the fenced dog park was established.  

There are statements made that issues with parking, traffic, and waste are all resulting from the dog park, when there are clear and documented pre-existing concerns with all of these not related to dogs. Regarding noise and neighbors, considering other park spaces in Summerland, Peach Orchard has more physical separation from nearby residential properties than other suitable locations. The overall reduction of other activities is also an unsubstantiated claim with no information provided to support (but anecdotal information seems to indicate a similar or improved impact due to less goose waste!).  We have noted sunbathers, volleyball, frisbee, picnics, swimming, parties, and more all still occurring at Peach Orchard contrary to these claims made.

Our other serious concern is this petition can be signed by anyone, anywhere, and those signing do not have to disclose their name or civic address.  Anyone from anywhere in the world can sign this petition, and if they so wished could easily sign it again under false names and multiple times.  This is the challenge with online petitions, which is exactly why we conducted a local, handwritten petition, to validate the significant and legitimate support for the dog park. A petition that even with challenges such as rain damage (and more recently theft!) has been very successful. The petition organizers additionally do not provide information about their organization or a means to contact them to provide clarification on misleading statements made on their website.  Whoever they are, they have not reached out to us or other dog owners to have a legitimate discussion about their concerns, and would rather conduct their debate in the media without accountability for their claims. Regrettably, this necessitates us to also provide robust defense in public instead of through the existing process with Council. (See our response to a recent letter here: https://www.summerlandreview.com/opinion/letter-summerland-park-receives-plenty-of-use-7118749 )

We also hope that as Mayor and Council you see this group’s petition for what it is: an attempt to mislead residents about the facts of the park and the process it is under. They demonize dog owners as unsafe and entitled, and ignore our longstanding and legitimate needs for a large, safe, fenced dog park in Summerland.

We always welcome a fulsome and facts-based debate on this issue, and have striven to conduct valid and defendable research that we provide to you and your staff to inform and educate the issue.  We hope you feel the information you receive from all sides (including staff) is both sufficient and of high quality in order for you as elected stewards to make educated decisions for the whole community. 

Sincerely, 

Summerland Dog Owners Association

The Reality for Summerland Dog Owners:

Without this large, fenced off-leash dog park, dog owners in Summerland have no safe place to go to exercise their active family pets. The vocal group against the dog park wants to close the park, leaving dog owners AGAIN rejected and not their recreational needs NOT ACCEPTED in this community!

There is a lot of mis-information Peach Orchard Beach Park being circulated by the vocal anti-dog group, DON’T BE MISLEAD!

FACT: Peach Orchard Park has already been off-season, off-leash since 2009! From Oct 1st – May 1st dogs could already run off-leash, it has been SAFE and SUCCESSFUL for over a decade! The only difference NOW is there is additional safety with a fence now separating dogs from other users!

FACT: The dog park is SMALLER (1-acre) than the green space (1.3-acre) at the park available for other uses! There is STILL lots of beautiful green space for all park users to enjoy such as weddings, sun-bathing, swimming, frisbee, ball-toss, volleyball, picnics, barbeques, and more! The dog park utilizes green space was before left unused and is now used by many YEAR ROUND!

FACT: Geese waste used to blanket the field with toxins, making it disgusting and unsafe to use by anyone! Now with the dog park there year-round, geese no longer loiter in large flocks anymore! Less poop on the green spaces, less swimmers itch in the water, and a cleaner park for EVERYONE to enjoy!

FACT: Many dog breeds need large safe places to exercise. You CANNOT throw a ball for an active running dog in a tiny cramped space! Dog parks for exercise of active breeds must be at least 1-acre, with open fields and safe surfaces (grass) to fetch and run. Larger spaces allow many owners to exercise and run their dogs without being cramped, which increases the risk of collisions with dogs, people, or the fence itself!

FACT: Fully-fenced dog parks provide safe place to socialize and exercise! Containing dogs in a fully fenced area provides safety and comfort to owners. Their off-leash dogs cannot run into traffic, interfere with other uses. Off-leash dogs can learn social skills in a safer setting and become better-behaved, and better dogs for everyone! Owners also benefit by being able to build friendships and community with each other, helping each other learn and grow!

FACT: Decades of study, open-houses, and Council meetings have shown there are VERY FEW places to place a large dog park without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars! THERE IS NOT “PLENTY OF PLACES” TO PLACE A DOG PARK! There are only a few and ALL have pro’s and con’s! Summerland has to SHARE it’s excess underused spaces used by a few so that the hundreds with NO SPACE have a place to use!

If no user groups that hoard their single-use spaces want to share the limited land available, is that land really for everyone? How can this community consider itself INCLUSIVE with Council being bullied into denying another groups needs?

LIST OF THE ONLY OTHER SUITABLE SITES:

Snow Ave – Rejected after protest by Minor Baseball

Powell Beach – Rejected after protest by Trout Creek residents

Dale Meadows – Rejected by Council due to cost

FACT: Since 2012, more has been spent by Council STUDYING a dog park than it costs to actually build a really nice one! Estimates for tax-dollars spent easily exceed $200,000! Dog owners don’t want to waste money either, we pay taxes here too!

  • Multiple Consultants!
  • Multiple public surveys!
  • Multiple Open Houses!
  • Multiple Master Plans!
  • Multiple Committee and stakeholder meetings!
  • Countless Council presentations and meetings!
  • Uncalculated Staff Time!
  • Three different Councils (but many of the same faces!)
  • Several different Parks Directors!

With as LARGE number (some estimates as high as 59%!) of Summerland households having at least one dog, we are one of the largest recreational user groups in Summerland, yet for decades have had our recreational needs excluded and our voices not accepted as part of the community.

Our furry family members all deserve a place where they can socialize, play and exercise together safely! Our paper petition is passing 700 signatures, and we are super proud of the support from REAL PEOPLE, those who care about dogs and their well-being. Residents and visitors who support the Peach Orchard Dog Park for its location and size!

We hope the public will see facts from fiction.

We want to sincerely thank everyone for their voices and support for Summerland dog owners! Please sign our online petition, write to Council, and attend the meetings!

OTHER MEDIA RELEASES:

SDOA Public Media Release January 2021:

Youtube Link: Support Summerland Residents for a Safe Fenced Dog Park!

Over the years asking for a suitable safe park (one of the locations proposed at that time was Snow Avenue, ball field #3). With dog owners making up an estimated 41% of all households, they are one of the largest and most diverse demographic groups in the community. This group is much larger than any other user group. It includes children, adults, and seniors, and represents all ethnic, social, veterans and persons with a disability or persons with disabilities and all economic groups for which park facilities are created.
Summerland Mayor and Council need to remember how pet ownership contributes to the local economy and creates more jobs than any other recreation club in this community.
If it were not for our local dogs we would not have:


The annual ‘All Breed Dog Show’ at Dale Meadows attracts people from all over BC, Canada, and the US to Summerland, providing economic support to local motels, restaurants, and shops
Tourists who are traveling with their dogs and stay at places where there are dog amenities accessible and pet-friendly hotels available.

Even in our local grocery store, there is a large area of prime retail space dedicated to dog food products.

Dog ownership has become so much more important to our community members. Dog owners treat their pets as family members, and especially over this last few year of isolation, dogs have brought comfort and support to many more people than before. Dogs clearly have a beneficial effect on childhood and adult stress and anxiety as well.

A dog park of no less than one acre in size provides a safe and accessible place to expand these amazing health benefits. Being able to enjoy the fresh air outdoors while providing a much-needed social connection with other residents who have a common interest is a great cure for social anxiety and isolation. All these benefits are available from children to seniors, including families and those who live alone, and for residents of all levels of ability and mobility.

With all these benefits dogs bring us, it is easy to see why we need dog parks!

Nearly every other community in the Okanagan since at least 2012 has not only implemented a dog park, but many have expanded to provide multiple large off-leash, year-round dog parks! Consider the amazing efforts taken by the city councils of Lake Country and Coldstream to provide spaces for their resident’s needs! We wish that Mayor Holmes and council would show similar leadership and not discriminate and try making Summerland an inclusive community for its dog-owning residents as well.