UPDATE: April 15, 2018
UPDATE: April 10, 2018
The City has heard the community’s concerns about the potential loss of the current off-leash area and green space because of the proposed Queen’s Park Cemetery expansion. As a result, Calgary Parks has placed the land use re-designation application on hold until further notice. Comments will remain open until April 13 and will be preserved. Additionally, the comment process will be re-opened if the re-designation application starts again.
Calgary Parks will continue discussions with the community, providing more information and asking for feedback on our possible off-leash relocation options should the expansion proceed at a later date. The May 9 session, originally planned as an information session, will be repurposed for this engagement.
There are two ways to learn more and provide input into the options:
- Participate in online engagement between April 23 and May 16. A link will be available at Calgary.ca/offleashprojects.
- Attend one of two drop-in engagement sessions
- Thursday, April 26, 6-8 p.m.
Highwood Community Hall
16 Harlow Avenue NW - Wednesday, May 9, 6-8 p.m.
Highwood Community Hall
16 Harlow Avenue NW
- Thursday, April 26, 6-8 p.m.
We will share information about the engagement opportunities with your residents through our website (Calgary.ca/offleashprojects), your community newsletter, and signage. We will also continue to update you directly as new information is available.
UPDATE: April 6, 2018
An update on the Queen’s Park Cemetery expansion project, April 6
We have heard the community’s concerns about the pace of the project and the loss of the current off-leash area. We are slowing this process down. The land use redesignation application has been suspended. Comments on the redesignation already submitted will be preserved, and additional comments will continue to be accepted until April 13.There have been many questions raised about whether another suitable off-leash space could be found. This is something we want to continue discussing with the community. We will offer engagement opportunities starting in the next few weeks to give everyone a clearer picture of the possible options should the land use redesignation process resume and be approved.Details on engagement opportunities to follow.
UPDATE: March 30, 2018
The City Parks Department, in their program to convert the existing Cambrian Heights Park Land Reserve now being utilized as an Off Leash Dog Park, have applied for a Redesignation to an S-C1 zoning which will allow use as a cemetery. The application may be found at :
All comments about this application must be submitted to the City office by April 13. Please let your opinions be heard.
The Board of Cambrian Heights was made aware of this decision by the City of Calgary Parks Department to close the existing Off Leash Dog Park bordering 10 Street and 32 Avenue on March 12. They stated that this park is part of the Queen’s Park Cemetery Lands and is urgently needed to meet demand. At the meeting the Board expressed their surprise at both the decision and the timing. We further suggested to the City representatives that this decision would elicit strong emotional response from the Community dog owners and their proposed timing was aggressive. The Board undertook to review past discussions between the Community and the City in regards to the use of those lands. We will be conducting a complete review of the events that occurred in 2005 and 2006 when the City proposed this closure and through efforts of Community volunteers City Council reversed this decision.
An informational meeting announced by the City at the Highwood Community Hall is scheduled for Wednesday evening May 9. As explained to the Board this meeting will be informal and the City officials will be simply telling everyone of this dog park removal decision and lay the groundwork for their study of other potential sites for an Off Leash Dog Park in the area for which they will be soliciting input at some point.
Members of the Board encourage your attendance at the City sponsored meeting and making your opinions known. We also encourage discussion with your neighbours and further welcome emails addressing this closure, volunteering to help or providing information concerning the 2005-6 events. These emails will be kept on record but not distributed outside the Community without your permission. You are also free to forward your comments directly to our Alderman Sean Chu at ward04@calgary.ca.
The Board will be formulating a strategy memorandum after reviewing all the available relevant information concerning these lands, past and present, for publication on our website. We will try to meet with City officials once again and will be contacting our Alderman. A Town Hall Meeting may be called or we may defer discussion until our AGM May 15 to address this issue with up to date information for Community residents. We further note that a Land Use Re-Designation Application has been posted on the dog park site and we need to obtain details of this application before any of these proposed meetings.
Daryl Connolly, President CHCA
daryl.connolly@icloud.com
In response to the City of Calgary’s Parks Department to change the off leash dog park into expansion for burial grounds, I am asking you to reconsider. This area of land has been a much-used and loved area for dog owners for many years. It is an area of community and gathering of dog owners and their pets. I am not even a dog owner but I see the value of this land for its use. It is great to see the area used by the community and I would want it to stay that way.
An expansion of the cemetery seems like a short term decision with little insight into the future of the city. What happens when this land is used up? How much will it cost to find and build another dog park? It seems like a bandaid fix in the short run. Any other development into a proper space for a full cemetery elsewhere would be a much better use of funds. To simply expand into a place that has been a fixture in the community for so many years is a rushed decision and poor use of city funds.
Please reconsider your proposal with thoughts of pet owners and all of us in the community.
Sincerely
Thomas Yu
People visit dog parks everyday, graveyards are not and therefore can be placed further away. There is too little green open space in the city we should keep what we can. The few times the minority of people visit a graveyard they can travel.
Keep the area as is.