Upton Farm rezoning: dog owners disappointed

A new natural area designation for Upton Farm in Charlottetown means wildlife will be protected, future development will be restricted, and its property taxes will be lower.

It also means the land won't be entirely an off-leash area for dogs anymore.

• Upton Farm gets protection designation

The 57-hectare park is a popular spot for dog owners. Now, there will be a designated off-leash area, but most of the park will be on-leash. There will also be some protected areas where dogs aren't allowed at all.

Dog owners disappointed

Many dog owners said they aren't happy about the change.

"I'm kind of disappointed because I feel that it's good the way it is, us being able to use the whole park," said Kim Crosby, who typically brings her dog to the park four or five times a week.

Roark MacKinnon agrees. He's been bringing his dog to Upton Park for almost five years. He said allowing his dog off leash has been important for building trust and training his dog.

"We built that relationship here," said MacKinnon. "This is one of the only places in Charlottetown you can actually come and allow your dog to be off-leash."

MacKinnon said with the zoning changes, while he'll likely still go to Upton Park, he may start looking for other places on P.E.I. where he can take his dog off-leash.

Not 'quite so disheartening'

For Pat Hobbs, taking her dogs to Upton Park is a social activity as well. She said when she moved to P.E.I. from Toronto 10 years ago, "this is where I came and met people and made friends."

She said she'll wait to see how big the off-leash area is before she decides if she'll still come to the park as often.

While she's disappointed in the change, she noted that in such a large park, restricting dogs from less than a third of it still leaves a lot of space where dogs are allowed.

"That doesn't sound quite so disheartening," she said.

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