By Tyler Marr

Sherman Drive walkway closure stalls on final step

Mar 27, 2018 | 10:00 AM

They say history repeats itself, and debate over a problem pathway between 3065 and 3067 Sherman Dr. is proving no exception.

The contentious path was back under the spotlight Monday night when a bylaw came before city council. The proposed bylaw would have closed the path once and for all, but fell short on a final vote. The path’s fate has been a hot topic since 2006, with attempts to close it down in that year, as well as 2007, 2010 and 2015.

The debate wandered back into City Hall after Ward 6 Coun. Blake Edwards brought it forward in February. Resident Joel Perreault, who has lived next to the path since 2002, reached out to Edwards after his home was broken into Dec. 16, 2017. Footprints in the snow found by police determined the culprit used the path to break in.

“It is pretty traumatic to come home to your house that has been broken and entered. Your daughter’s pet cat has been kicked and could barely walk and our personal effects are strewn about the house,” Perreault told council Monday night.

According to agenda documents, approximately 12 calls for police service have been made relating to the path recently, ranging from mischief to break-and-enter. Perreault said that number was low, as there were a number of times he has not bothered to call the police. He has even maintained the path personally by cutting grass and cleaning up litter, he said.

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“I have done everything I can in my power to deter crime,” he said.  

Perreault was not alone in campaigning for closure. A petition of 47 area residents and the neighbour who lives on the other side of the path supported his call for action, though a handful of others disagreed. Letters from those opposed said the path is an easy way to access the park for families and called it a “valuable community resource.” Others accused Perreault of only wanting to close the path so he could take ownership of the land, though Perreault said the same people have opposed him every time over the years and noted he was not after the land. Perreault said over the years, it is the same people who have opposed him every time and notes the pathway closure would only add at most 90 metres to gain access to Dent Park.

“This does not impede their families in any way, shape or form,” he said. “I just want to live peacefully.”

Edwards agreed, saying if he thought it was going to harm the community, “I would never have brought this forward.”

“I get it, people use these paths, but they don’t live there and don’t understand. It is traumatizing,” he said. “People’s home should be their palace, and right now, and for many years, it hasn’t been. When you live in fear in the evening, that is a problem.”

Ward 7 Coun. Dennis Nowoselsky disagreed, arguing that closing one pathway could create a slippery slope for council.

“If we are saying [crime] is bad with the walkways, people with back alleys are going to have to start closing the back alley,” he said.

Ward 8 Coun. Ted Zurakowski was on the fence. He supported a first reading of the bylaw to move the closure forward but wanted more information.

“I believe part of my job is to be open-minded and listen,” he said.

First and second reading of the bylaw passed, but a third reading, which would have moved it into law, failed to gain unanimous support. Councillors Zurakowski, Nowoselsky and Terra Lennox-Zepp were opposed. The timeline for feedback was extended before the item comes back to council at a later date for a third reading, again.

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr