Calgary Parks & Pathway Bylaw Review
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Calgary Parks & Pathway Bylaw Review Stakeholder Report Back: What we Heard May 4, 2018 Project overview A parks bylaw is a set of rules to regulate the actions and behaviours of park users. These rules are intended to protect park assets, promote safety and provide a safe and enjoyable experience for park users. The Parks and Pathway Bylaw was last reviewed in 2003. Since then the way we use parks has evolved. For example, in recent years goats have been introduced to our parks to help manage weeds, Segways have been seen on pathways and new technologies, such as drones, have become more commonplace. Engagement overview Engagement sought to understand what is important to you in terms of your park usage as part of this Bylaw review to better assess your usage and as a result, our next steps. Engagement is one area that will help us as we review the Parks and Pathway Bylaw. In addition to your input, we are looking into 3-1-1 calls, other reports and best practices from other cities. In alignment with City Council’s Engage Policy, all engagement efforts, including this project are defined as: Purposeful dialogue between The City and citizens and stakeholders to gather meaningful information to influence decision making. As a result, all engagement follows the following principles: Citizen-centric: focusing on hearing the needs and voices of both directly impacted and indirectly impacted citizens Accountable: upholding the commitments that The City makes to its citizens and stakeholders by demonstrating that the results and outcomes of the engagement processes are consistent with the approved plans for engagement Inclusive: making best efforts to reach, involve, and hear from those who are impacted directly or indirectly Committed: allocating sufficient time and resources for effective engagement of citizens and stakeholders Responsive: acknowledging citizen and stakeholder concerns Transparent: providing clear and complete information around decision processes, procedures and constraints. For more information about engagement at the City of Calgary, please visit: engage.calgary.ca. What we asked Your input will help us to shape the revised Bylaw. It will also help us to identify areas that might require additional engagement. 1/131 Calgary Parks & Pathway Bylaw Review Stakeholder Report Back: What we Heard May 4, 2018 To better assess our next steps and to understand what is important to you, we asked you about: the types of activities you think the Bylaw should allow in parks things that hinder or detract from your park experience your views regarding the recreational use of small drones in parks how often you use pathways in linear parks for recreational activities such as walking, running, cycling or walking your dog the types of pathways you think you would use year round activities you wish you could do in a park right now that you don’t currently do What we heard Below is a list of themes we heard from you. These have been taken from your responses to each of the questions, including your responses to the open-ended questions. Use of radio-controlled hobbies, off-leash areas for dog walking, and open alcohol should be included in the Bylaw Snow removal/ice conditions, speed of cyclists, limited washroom access hinder park experience Gathering areas, tobogganing, edible plants/urban agriculture, use of drones, off-leash areas are other activities that you would like to enjoy in parks Tobogganing on any hill at own risk should be included in the Bylaw Goats and other animals to control weeds throughout parks should be included in the Bylaw Encouragement of opportunities to showcase artists in parks should be in the Bylaw Unsafe pathway behaviour (cyclists and pedestrians) hinder park experience Encampments hinder park experience Restrictions on risky activities such as parkour, tobogganing, etc. deter from park experience Don't allow small drones Use pathways 1 - 3 times a week Use pathways that serve as popular routes for recreation activities such as walking, running, cycling and dog walking year-round For a detailed summary of the input that was provided, please see the Summary of Input section. For a verbatim listing of all the input that was provided, please see the Verbatim Responses section. Next steps Your input will be used to help shape the new Parks and Pathways Bylaw, which is expected to go to Council at the end of 2018. At that time, recommended Bylaw changes will be included in a What we Did report and shared at www.engage.calgary.ca/parksbylaw. 2/131 Calgary Parks & Pathway Bylaw Review Stakeholder Report Back: What we Heard May 4, 2018 Summary of Input Table 1 lists your top preferences for each of the questions asked in the feedback form while graphs 1 to 5, starting on page 6, tell us your preferences regarding all the options provided for each question. Questions 1 and 2 in the survey provided ‘other’ as an option and question 3 sough to understand what activities you wish that you could do in a park right now that you currently do not do. Your responses to these 3 questions are themed in table 2. Table 1 Your top preferences based on the available choices in the feedback form The types of activities you think the Bylaw Tobogganing on any hill at own risk should allow in parks; Goats and other animals to control weeds throughout parks Encourage opportunities to showcase artists in parks Things that hinder or detract from your park Unsafe pathway behaviour (cyclists and pedestrians) experience; Encampments Restrictions on risky activities such as parkour, tobogganing, etc. Your views regarding the recreational use Don't allow it! They're annoying and invade my privacy. of small drones in parks; Allow it - they're fun! How often you use pathways in linear parks 1 - 3 times a week for recreational activities such as walking, Daily running, cycling or walking your dog The types of pathways you think you would Pathways that serve as popular routes for recreation use year round activities such as walking, running, cycling and dog walking. Table 2 Your comments are reviewed to create themes. Each theme includes a summary and examples of verbatim comments in italics. These are the exact words you used. To ensure we capture all responses accurately, verbatim comments have not been altered. In some cases, we utilized only a portion of your comment that spoke to a particular theme. This is reflected by using ‘…’. Question that Themes Detailed explanation with supporting examples was posed in the survey Other types of Use of radio-controlled We heard from you that there are a variety of other activities activities you hobbies, off-leash you think the Bylaw should incorporate. You also informed us think the Bylaw areas for dog walking, of ways in which you think each of these activities could be should allow in and open alcohol. handled. Of the activities you shared with us, majority relayed parks a desire to see the use of radio-controlled items such as 3/131 Calgary Parks & Pathway Bylaw Review Stakeholder Report Back: What we Heard May 4, 2018 drones added to the Bylaw. You expressed things such as licensing and security considerations. We also heard you would value increased availability/access for off-leash areas for dog-walking. You shared that you want an off-leash space that is welcoming to you and your dog and offered suggestions for converting existing space into off-leash space at certain times of the day. Lastly, you indicated that you would value the ability to consume alcohol in parks. You cited other municipalities that you felt have successfully navigated allowing alcohol consumption in parks. “Re. Question 4 below about Drones. Allow responsible use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's). Note that not all UAV's have camera's mounted on board for "live viewing & control" which designates it as a drone, which could imply some invasion of privacy to some. RC (Remote Control) Planes and Helicopters with no live control cameras should be allowed up to a certain size, electric only, (not gas powered) and resposibly used when space and / or too many citizens are in the area. Small sizes should not require licenses, Medium to Large size may require licensing depending on the type or aircraft.” “Off leash dog walking at certain times of day when park is otherwise not heavily used (Central Park in NY does this).” “More offleash dog parks that aren’t ugly strips near roads. I walk my dog so I can get out in nature and need the esthetic factor” “Allowance for consumption of alcohol while picnicking/ bbqing, as in other major cities ( Paris, london)” Other things Snow removal/ice We heard from you that a lack of snow removal impacts your that hinder or conditions, speed of use of parks during the winter season and negatively impacts detract from cyclists, limited access for strollers and mobility aids such as wheelchairs. your park washroom access You shared with us that you are concerned with the speed in experience which some cyclists ride through the paths and would appreciate increased enforcement of speed limits on the paths. We also heard from you that year-round access to washroom facilities would be appreciated. You relayed the discrepancy between seasonal access to facilities despite parks being open. 4/131 Calgary Parks & Pathway Bylaw Review Stakeholder Report Back: What we Heard May 4, 2018 “The complete lack of snow removal in most parks restricts usability during the winter.” “Snow covered pathways. Reduces stroller and wheelchair access.” “Speeding cyclists. They’re not abiding the speed limits.” “There are limited washrooms in parks.