Efforts by some Acme citizens to install playground equipment in a green space adjacent to Prospect Avenue in the village have been stymied.
According to Acme resident Betty Martin, the request was for council’s permission to install two swings on the lot, which is currently zoned as a park. She said the proposal met with Canadian Standards Association requirements and they weren’t seeking additional help from the Village.
“We said we would do all the fundraising and installation on our own – we weren’t looking for any monetary help or any manpower help,” Martin said. “But council asked if we would be willing to have the swings moved if it came to that, and we said no. We aren’t trying to fundraise to get equipment in all the parks in town, this was strictly for this lot.”
After deliberation, council voted against allowing the group to proceed with the swings. According to Chief Administrative Officer Brad Mason, council couldn’t “in good faith” agree to the proposal when councillors couldn’t guarantee that a decision to re-zone the park wouldn’t be made in the future.
“We weren’t going to put in all our time and effort into getting these swings just to have them taken down,” Martin said. “I’d like to see this park stay – it’s well-treed, it’s beautiful, and we don’t have enough parks in this town.”
Although a motion for second reading on the bylaw to re-zone the area from park to residential failed by a 3-2 vote at a June 8 meeting, council will be presented with a new amendment to the land use bylaw at a public hearing on July 13 which, according to Mason, is “basically the same bylaw.”
“I don’t believe it was council’s intent to kill the bylaw,” Mason said. “Their belief was if they didn’t pass it that night, they could still pass it at the next meeting, but by defeating second reading they effectively killed that bylaw. Once it’s defeated, a bylaw is finished.”
Martin believes council intends to give all three readings to the new bylaw on July 13, despite vocal opposition from residents who don’t want to lose the green space along Prospect Avenue.
“When I bought this property in 1998, I wasn’t aware there was a possibility of the park changing,” Martin said. “But regardless of what we want, council seems to have its own agenda.”
Mason noted anyone who wishes to speak to the bylaw can attend the public hearing in council chambers at the Acme Village Office at 6:30 p.m. on July 13.
