Petition Update (Feb 5)

Great news! 🐾

The committee voted to pause the proposed changes to Pacific Spirit Park’s off-leash trails yesterday. This is a huge win for the community and shows that our voices were heard!

Moving forward, the focus will be on enforcing existing rules, improving signage, and prioritizing education to find a better balance for all park users. Please stay on the lookout for any future surveys or proposals, as the park will likely be looking for more community feedback soon.

I’ll be closing the petition for now, but I will keep you all updated as things progress.

Petition Update (Feb 2)

I've been blown away by all the incredible feedback and opposition to the Metro Vancouver proposal. Our numbers are growing by the hour, and I've had some folks highlight several further issues and potential solutions I didn't include in the initial post, including:

• Misleading Statistics: The report characterizes the changes as resulting in only a 14% reduction in off-leash trails. However, this figure is misleading in practice. The longest, most continuous, and most heavily used off-leash trails—those that allow for meaningful loops and safe circulation—have been removed or fragmented. What remains are shorter, disconnected segments that do not function as viable routes for daily use.
• Cutting Off the UBC Community: The proposed "no dogs" section between 10th and 16th cuts off trailhead access to Pacific Spirit for most residents west of the park. The route would instead guide people to walk behind Norma Rose Elementary School to access Pacific Spirit via the sole proposed leash-required trail in that area (Cleveland). Many people and their dogs from the UBC community use paths between 10th and 16th to commute as they join their owners at work or accompany their children and families for drop-off at school or daycare.
• Safety & Wildlife: Top Trail should be kept on-leash, as this trail is near to a number of coyote dens and has unmarked exits to very busy roads.
• The Safety Record: Despite the park’s extremely high daily use, reported incidents involving dogs represent less than 0.002% of visits. That tells us the overwhelming majority of people are using the space responsibly and safely

Solutions put forward by supporters include, keeping the leash rules the same but introducing the following:

• Increased signage clearly marking on-leash areas.
• More garbage cans specifically for dog waste disposal.
• Safety measures for shared trails, including signs reminding cyclists to use bells/warning systems when passing and implementing speed restrictions on e-bikes.
• Stricter enforcement and fining for owners who do not clean up after their dogs.
• Making the Powerline Trail on-leash to separate off-leash dogs from high-speed cyclist traffic.

We should absolutely address issues when they arise. But sweeping restrictions that reduce access for responsible users, based on a tiny fraction of incidents, is not balanced policy. It risks punishing everyone instead of focusing on education, enforcement where needed, and shared trail etiquette.

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Pacific Spirit Regional Park is one of the last remaining spaces in Metro Vancouver where dogs and their owners can enjoy continuous, off-leash nature trails. However, a new "Dog Management" proposal is currently under review that threatens to dismantle the functionality of this park for thousands of residents.

The hearing is happening this Wednesday, Feb 4th. We need to act now to show Metro Vancouver that their current proposal is impractical, unsafe, and ignores the needs of the community.

The Problem: The proposed changes move away from "functional loops" and toward fragmented, "start-and-stop" trails. Under the new map, continuous off-leash movement is virtually eliminated.

This proposal:

• Breaks Connectivity: There will no longer be an off-leash corridor connecting the north and south sides of the park. This forces dog owners to leash and unleash multiple times, which discourages compliance and ruins the flow of the park.
• Eliminates Essential Loops: The removal of off-leash status from the Salish Trail and Council Trail means there are no longer meaningful loops. This causes congestion, forces backtracking on narrow trails, and increases the likelihood of conflict.
• Creates Safety Hazards: By restricting traditional trails, dog walkers are being pushed onto the Powerline Trail—a high-traffic, shared-use bike corridor. Mixing off-leash dogs with fast-moving cyclists is a recipe for accidents.
• Ignores Local Residents: The plan removes dog-friendly access for the most densely populated nearby communities, including Hampton Place and UBC Student Family Residence, effectively cutting off their primary walking routes.

Why This Matters: Off-leash exercise is not just a "luxury." For the 60% of Canadian households that own pets, these trails are essential for mental health, dog socialization, and reducing reactivity. A well-designed park should reflect how people actually use it. By removing logical loops and connectors, Metro Vancouver is making the park less safe and less accessible for everyone.

Our Demand: We urge the Metro Vancouver Board to reconsider the "Dog Management" proposal and restore logical off-leash loops and connectors. Specifically, we ask that:

• Salish Trail, Clinton Trail and Council Trail remain off-leash to maintain east-west connectivity.
• A continuous North-South off-leash corridor be maintained.
• High-use residential access points for Hampton Place and UBC residents be restored to reflect real-world movement patterns.

Please sign this petition to protect our shared green spaces and ensure Pacific Spirit remains a functional, safe, and inclusive park for all members of our community.

Edited to add: Please consider emailing metro Vancouver to voice your concern. 
icentre@metrovancouver.org, Mike.redpath@metrovancouver.org, mayor@burnaby.ca, areaajen@gmail.com, areaaclaire@gmail.com, john.mcewen@anmore.com, Rebecca.bligh@vancouver.ca, Cau@richmond.ca, Pietro.calendino@burnaby.ca, Telke@pittmeadows.ca, Sferguson@tol.ca, Chodge@coquitlam.ca, Dkruger@delta.ca, Mlahti@portmoody.ca, mayor@bimbc.ca, muril@dnv.org, pennerd@portcoquitlam.ca, jross@belcarra.ca, rob.stutt@surrey.ca, jtan@mapleridge.ca, sthompson@westvancouver.ca, ken.sim@vancouver.ca, clrdominato@vancouver.ca, clrkirby-yung@vancouver.ca, clrklassen@vancouver.ca, clrzhou@vancouver.ca, peter.meiszner@vancouver.ca, Erin.Gorby@metrovancouver.org

Petition created by: Sonya Sokolova and Charlotte Wright