Why renew Emery Barnes off-leash area?

The Vancouver Park Board is planning a renewal and proposing a small expansion of the existing dog off-leash area (OLA) in Emery Barnes Park. Emery Barnes is a well-loved park that balances a variety of features including the OLA. Improvements to the OLA are necessary to address ongoing safety and maintenance issues, as well as to accommodate the growing number of dogs in the area. In all of Vancouver, Emery Barnes Park serves the second highest number of licensed dogs living within 1 km of an OLA.

Emery Barnes Park was built in 3 phases. Phase 1 was completed in 2003, phase 2, which included the dog off-leash area, was completed in 2010, and phase 3 was completed in 2012. Since building the off-leash area in 2010, we have adopted the People, Parks and Dogs Strategy. The strategy provides a framework for the next ten years and beyond to deliver well-planned and designed parks that accommodate park users, with and without dogs.