Parking Lots and Leash-Free Dog Areas Re-Opening in Burlington

COVID-19
Written By

*Please see below a media release issued by the City of Burlington.Burlington, Ont. — May 19, 2020 — The City of Burlington is working towards opening leash-free dog areas and most City park parking lots by end of day on Friday, May 23, 2020. The City is still encouraging everyone to follow public health directions and Provincial orders to physically distance themselves a minimum of six feet to help slow the spread of COVID-19.All City-owned leash-free dog areas, parking lots and tennis courts are scheduled to be opened by end of day Friday, May 23 with the exceptions of:

  1. The west parking lot at Spencer Smith Park (ongoing construction)
  2. LaSalle Park Marina parking lot (ongoing construction)
  3. Lowville Park parking lot (continued crowd management)

Residents are encouraged to leave their cars at home when visiting a park. Walk, bike or roll to your neighbourhood park.City Multi-use Sports FieldsThe Province announced today that multi-use sports fields (such as baseball diamonds and soccer fields) can be opened. Families can now enjoy our publicly-accessible sports fields (areas not locked and enclosed with fencing) with members of their own household for casual play. Only family members from the same household are able to be within six feet of each other. The City of Burlington will provide further information regarding our sports fields by Friday, May 23.In the meantime, organized group sports are still not permitted due to Provincial emergency orders. Requirements need to be in place by provincial sport organizations before permitted field use can be re-introduced. The City will work in collaboration with local sport organizations and as the specifics are provided, an implementation plan will be finalized.Provincial emergency orders remain in effect that limit the number of people in a gathering to five. If sports fields are used for casual purposes they are to be used at resident’s own risk; the City has not maintained or inspected sports fields during the pandemic.By Provincial order, park amenities, including all washrooms and playground equipment remain closed.MAYOR MEED WARD’S TAKE:I know these past few months have been incredibly difficult on our residents, particularly because we haven’t been able to enjoy our beautiful parks in large groups or do the things we could in the past when the nicer weather allowed. The closure of our parking lots next to the parks was our way to help protect residents’ health and safety by preventing overcrowding and encouraging people to stay local within your neighbourhoods. As Burlington moves forward with a phased reopening, I ask everyone to continue being respectful of others when visiting our parks and keep in mind that we are still not through this global pandemic. Please keep following the advice of expert medical professionals when you head out and find ways to enjoy the outdoors responsibly.—PLEASE NOTE: To stay updated on what the City of Burlington is doing regarding COVID-19, please visit the dedicated pages burlington.ca/coronavirus (and subscribe) and bit.ly/mayormeedwardCOVID19updates, and our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page — bit.ly/COVID19BurlingtonFAQ that are updated as new information becomes available.A Burlington COVID-19 Task Force has been created to help support our community through this unprecedented emergency — updates will be provided at burlington.ca/COVID19taskforce.To report an incident of non-compliance with provincial emergency orders, please contact the Halton Regional Police Service COVID-19 Hotline: 905-825-4722.We’ve also created a dedicated page to feature the local organizations and businesses that have inspired us during the COVID-19 pandemic by taking action to support our community in new and creative ways — head to bit.ly/covidwallofinspiration.HELPFUL RESOURCES & RELATED LINKS:

—*Posted by John Bkila, Mayor’s Media and Digital Communications Specialist

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