Tag Archives: Leash Free Zone

Off-Leash Area, six years later.

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The Raymore Park dog off-leash area (DOLA) was opened with some fanfare by Premier Doug Ford’s nephew six years ago. Its design followed standard Toronto Parks and Forestry protocols, namely removal of vegetation and topsoil then replacement with pea-gravel and fenced with rustic poles and rails backed up by a wire containment fence. The aim was to provide an off-leash area where dogs could exercise and socialize safely. The idea, sold at a community presentation was that the DOLA would be used mainly by local residents and that any extra traffic would be minimal.

The site of the present-day DOLA back in October 2008 looking south-west..
The DOLA under construction in February 2017 looking north-west.
Then councillor (red top) Mike Ford at the opening ceremony on July 10, 2017.

The DOLA was built with several design flaws.

1. The small dog enclosure is only accessible by passing through the large dog enclosure.

Small dogs must run the gauntlet to get to their enclosure. July 2017.
The small dog area with landscape fabric in the foreground. July 2023.

2. The pea gravel surface irritates dog paws making exercise out of the question for most.

3. No shade for dogs and owners. A few trees have been planted but these will take many years to mature.

Some trees have been planted but no shade – and harsh pea gravel. July 2023.

4. The space is totally alienated from nature and looks more like a cattle feedlot.

The DOLA and remaining (unused) baseball diamond just north of Emmet Waterfall. Google Maps.

A few observations:

  1. The DOLA is empty most of the day.
  2. The DOLA is popular with commercial dog walkers but a majority of individual owners seem to prefer other parts of Raymore park.
  3. Commercial dog walkers are banned from November through May but many of them use the park year-round.
  4. Compared to the rest of the park, the off-leash section is a barren wasteland.
  5. Thanks to pea gravel making running uncomfortable, dogs get little exercise.
  6. Many people ignore leash by-laws in the park.
  7. The DOLA has done little to protect park wildlife from off-leash dogs.
  8. By-law enforcement seems to have disappeared since Covid.
  9. The DOLA seems to have been a huge waste of money and resources.

Overall Grade: D-

Public Consultation:

A Toronto-wide consultation process was begun in June 2019 to gather feedback on how to improve DOLA design with stakeholder meetings and public surveys. The effort seems to have ground to a halt during Covid as there are no updates beyond this one in 2020.

My two cents: The DOLA should never have been built as there was no demand for it – especially for one so flawed. Far better, cheaper and less disruptive, to have allowed the huge open space between the two unused baseball diamonds to be planted with native trees and create a woodland / wildlife corridor that would join with the one south of the weir.

What might have been – extending the woods north beyond the falls to form a wildlife corridor. Google Maps.

Extra Credit: Read Maria Kwok’s thorough review of Raymore Park’s DOLA here.

Raymore Park: changes over the years – Part 2.

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Read Part 1 here.

This year marks 30 years since I started coming to Raymore Park. During that time many changes have occurred, most of them reflecting adjustments in park philosophy and management.

4. Areas under grass.

After Hurricane Hazel hit the Humber Valley in 1954, it was decided that flood plain and ravine land should be cleared of settlement to avoid further loss of life. Residents of Raymore Drive and Gilhaven Drive who survived were compensated for the purchase of their homes or lots. Gilhaven drive was approximately where the parking lot is today. Lands were then made part of what is now the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and homes were bulldozed to create wide expanses of grass. Slowly, thanks to diminishing budgets, some grassed areas have been allowed to naturalize and sumac bushes have advanced, allowing trees to spring up in their midst. Currently, there is no grass cutting south of the weir apart from a strip on either side of the bike path.

Looking south towards the weir. Lots of grass with some recent tree plantings.

5. Dogs.

Raymore has been a popular park for local dog owners for decades. When the condos at Hickory Tree opened, residents were allowed to keep dogs and used Raymore Park once the footbridge opened in 1995. The wild area was popular and a path was carved out by dogs and their owners as they followed the Humber through the bush.

In 2017, an area near one of the baseball diamonds was converted into a dog off-leash area (DOLA). The ground was fitted with weeping tile to improve drainage, bulldozed and covered with the aptly named pea gravel. It was then fenced off from the rest of the park. The pea gravel is supposed to allow for better drainage but many owners say that it makes their dogs’ paws uncomfortable.

Residents and their dogs gather Monday, July 10 2017 for the official Raymore Park DOLA opening.

The DOLA took a few years to become popular but is now widely used and is popular with professional dog walkers who can be seen with up to six dogs at a time.

Some owners avoid the DOLA, instead preferring to allow their dogs to run free in places like the wild area. They play a cat and mouse game with city by-law enforcement officers and occasionally have encounters with wildlife that are unfortunate.

Sewer work winding up (finally)

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The staging area is no longer fenced off and various bits of equipment await removal.

The work to reline sewers buried along the Humber is almost over. The staging area north of the weir has been dismantled and will be restored to its natural state in the next few weeks. If all goes according to plan, the cycle / pedestrian path will be restored and widened to the standard width of 2.5 metres.

Between the retaining wall construction, the dog off-leash area and the sewer relining, Raymore Park has been in a state of construction since early 2016 so it will be nice to have peace and quiet once more. There’s still more work going on further south but that should be completed by the fall.

One side benefit of the leash free zone.

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The new leash free zone has taken some of the pressure off the wild area. The evidence for this is the fact that the old path is quite overgrown.

The old path is visible as a mild depression in the undergrowth.

There is a path there somewhere.

The lack of dogs and humans is also helpful to new plantings that are part of the rehabilitation of the former staging area. The bags at the base of some of the trees are containers which allow water to be released slowly (I always wondered). The brand name is Tree Gator.

New plantings of trees and grass. Our plentiful rainfall this summer is helping. Let’s hope winter ice is kind.

In the meantime, work continues on re-lining the sewage pipes that run along the Humber. The project has blown past its announced completion date of July 2017.

This equipment fire across the river on July 9th may not have helped the project timeline.

Dog Zone Official Opening

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Residents and their dogs gather Monday July 10 for the official Raymore Park leash-free zone opening. Note the entrance to the small dog zone (black gate) is not directly accessible from the park.

Quite a few dog owners and their pets were present on Monday evening for the official opening of Raymore Park’s leash free zone. Councillor Mike Ford had organized the event and worked the crowd, introducing himself informally to residents and later made a short speech. People seemed pleased with the facility but the councillor heard a few concerns; namely that the topping of ‘pea gravel’ used to improve drainage seems to bother some pets. The lack of shade was another issue as was access to the small dogs’ zone (currently entered from the large dogs’ zone).

Ward 2 Councillor Mike Ford speaks to the assembled crowd.

Councillor Ford seemed sympathetic to these and other concerns and promised some consultation with the people from Toronto Parks (Parks Supervisor Lynn Essensa was in attendance). He also sympathized with the patience of residents who have put up with Raymore Park’s long period of being a construction zone and said he was working on getting the last remaining project (sewer pipe re-lining) expedited.

Dog Zone almost ready. Nothing changes.

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The new leash free zone is almost complete with a glaring exception and a puzzling oversight.

The zone looks a bit like a small horse paddock. They’re at the post…

There is no signage or anywhere to put the poop bags / cigarettes butts and coffee cups that the zone will generate. There is also some work left to ensure the fencing is well attached. Still, for a Toronto project it has been constructed relatively quickly, especially considering that two other major projects have been happening in the vicinity.

Benches are provided for owners to watch their dogs.

One major design flaw seems to be with the small dog enclosure.

An ‘airlock’ that ensures dogs don’t escape when one gate is opened.

There are two double-gated ‘airlocks’ that ensure safe entry of new dogs without allowing an unleashed dog to suddenly dart out into the park. So far so good. Unfortunately both gates lead into the large dog section.

I would have made one entrance for the large dog enclosure and a separate one for smaller dogs; but then, I’m not an expert.

The northern ‘airlock’. Note the small dog entrance some distance away accessible only from the large dog enclosure.

The long walk through the large dog section to access the small dog zone.

Unless something changes, it looks as if small dog owners will be forced to run the gauntlet through the large dog enclosure.

Some fencing still needs to be attached to the posts.

As I was taking photographs, an elderly gentleman walked by with his Jack Russell off leash, ignoring the zone. That might be a problem with this particular zone – it’s just so much nicer in the rest of the park.

Only time will tell if people will actually make use of the zone and follow the rules once they’re posted. There certainly seems to be no difference in the behaviour of many people who still come and go with their dogs off leash.

March 2017 Construction Progress Report.

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Sewer pipe linings awaiting placement.

Sewer pipe linings awaiting placement.

Work proceeds in full swing on the sewer relining project. Instead of replacing the sewers, new linings are being pushed and pulled to line the insides of the original pipe. Apparently this will allow a few more years before the old pipes need to be replaced. This means another 18 months of heavy slogging along the Humber valley.

Workers access the main sewer in preparation for re-lining.

Workers access the main sewer in preparation for re-lining.

Sewer-map

City of Toronto map showing the path of the sewer and its main access points.

The footbridge connecting Lions Park with Hickory Tree Road is almost complete and will make a difference to the many people on foot who move between Weston and Etobicoke. The new version is wider, all metal (except for railings and trim) and has viewing decks that will be useful during soccer games on the artificial turf below.

One of the decks of the new footbridge during construction.

One of the decks of the new footbridge during construction.

The new bridge shouldn’t require salt (the old wooden one was regularly salted in winter) and it will have bicycle troughs for walking bicycles up and down.

The leash free zone further down Raymore Park is taking shape. The surface has been laid and fencing is under way. The two areas for different sized dogs are becoming evident. This project should be ready by summer.

Panoramic view of the new area looking north. Click to zoom.

Panoramic view of the new area looking north. Click to zoom.

Finally, although the Humber River retaining wall was completed late last year, the staging area used to construct the project has been restored and now this blank canvas awaits re-planting, hopefully this spring.

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Off Leash Zone latest

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In preparation for the new off-leash area by the weir in Raymore Park city staff have removed the baseball diamond fencing that was installed a few years ago but rarely used.

The old baseball fencing has gone.

The old baseball fencing has gone.

The view north from the upcoming leash free zone.

The view north from the upcoming leash free zone.

We’ll have to see if the extended deadline for work on the Humber retaining wall will delay the opening of the new dog facility. Workers did manage to remove the fencing without any logistical problems.

Off-Leash Meeting Thursday.

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The final meeting to give the nod to a leash free zone for Raymore Park will be held this Thursday. Read more here and here. Councillor Rob Ford is scheduled to attend. The anticipated spring opening date will likely be pushed back because of delays to the retaining wall installation and sewer ‘rehabilitation’ work that will follow.

  • Date: Thursday, February 25
  • Time 6:30 – 8:30pm
  • Location: Westmount Junior School, 95 Chapman Road.

Raymore Park Leash Free Zone Likely

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In spite of the fact that Raymore Park was rejected as a candidate for leash free zone consideration as recently as June 2014, organizers of the recently held residents’ meeting seemed to confirm that the zone is a done deal. Apparently ‘someone’ applied last June, and the City must consider the site. Oddly the city’s reasons against a leash free zone in Raymore were the same as those for rejecting adjacent Lions Park, namely, ‘TRCA, ravine,  natural heritage’. The document may be accessed here.

The meeting was attended by about 25 people and the proposed zone was illustrated – I have outlined an approximation as the organizers distributed no hard copy:

Raymore-Proposed-Leash-Free-Zone

Raymore Park showing the proposed off-leash zone. Google Earth.

The site as it looks now (September 2015)

The site as it looks now (September 2015).

The zone will be about 450 metres from the parking lot yet only about 100 m from nearby residences (the fact they are TCH homes may have eased concerns). The baseball diamonds will remain in place as removing them would involve park owners, TRCA and it’s ‘too much hassle’ according to the meeting organizer. The zone will occupy ¾ of an acre down at the southern baseball diamond in a rectangle following the river about 15 feet from the far side of the path. It will be fenced with pine wood rail fences so at least it won’t look too bad. Its northernmost tip will be about half-way up the open field (perhaps a little further than what I have drawn). I did suggest planting trees to the north of the zone which would hopefully dampen the sound somewhat. The organizers’  positive response to this suggestion may have been a way of easing my concerns; we’ll see. Trees to the south will provide shade. Water and lighting will not be supplied as the location is too remote and the budget small. Supervision by city staff will be minimal thanks to budget restraints and may I cynically suggest, the long walk from the parking lot.

When I suggested that the majority of people using the zone will be with unlicensed dogs, the response was a bit of a metaphorical shrug. From what I gather, nobody will be checking for dog licenses – even in the early days of this thing. Professional dog walkers will be allowed to use the zone.

The proposed opening hours are 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. year-round (even though the park gates are locked from November until April). This will create parking issues along Raymore Drive and Tilden Crescent. Organizers then talked about keeping the gates open year-round which some in the crowd thought was unlikely as even the ploughs get stuck occasionally.

The zone will be installed by spring of next year.

The organizers claim that traffic and noise levels won’t increase by much but they don’t like getting complaints about the zones it will be up to residents to phone 311 if people are abusing the area or being noisy.

There will be one more meeting to discuss the plans based on community input.