Burnaby council has approved a permanent, year-round program to allow drinking alcohol in public parks throughout the city.
It comes after a pilot program last summer which allowed responsible consumption in four major parks from June to October.
City staff said there was no increase in call volume or complaints to the city’s bylaw office or the RCMP due to the pilot program, according to a report to council April 15.
Staff also found no significant increase in garbage or waste, according to the report.
Customer service staff only received two calls, which were questions about the program, and there were 45 respondents to a survey on the pilot.
Staff said this “general lack of response” is consistent with the findings of other local municipalities in similar pilot programs.
The new rules will also be easier for the public to understand, according to staff, because the new bylaw will make it clearer where drinking is not allowed.
The bylaw will restrict consumption within specific areas in parks and parks on or immediately beside school property, and drinking will not be allowed on playgrounds, spray parks or artificial turf fields.
The citywide program is expected to come into effect this June.
(Last year’s pilot program restricted drinking within 10 metres of playgrounds, spray pads, wading pools, outdoor pools, skate bowls, parking lots and programmed playfields; those restrictions are now removed.)
Parks have become highly valued, “quasi-backyard” third spaces, staff said, as the city densifies with more highrise towers where outdoor space is limited.
Parks general manager, Mary Morrison-Clark, added there’s a big difference between the responsible consumption of alcohol and public drunkenness and said being drunk or intoxicated is not and will not be condoned in any park under the new program.
Two councillors opposed
Not all councillors were impressed with the plan.
Burnaby Citizens Association Coun. Sav Dhaliwal, who opposed the pilot program last year, again voiced his disagreement.
He said council should be more concerned about allowing substance use in public spaces.
“I’m kind of lost, in a way, to see why would a government, any order of government, would be encouraging substance use of any kind,” Dhaliwal said, and pointed to Fraser Health’s opposition to the program.
Dhaliwal said he’s never seen a report where citizens asked council to have drinking in parks.
“I have never received a direct request in 20 years,” he said, adding he did receive questions from residents about why the city was allowing the program.
He said the 45 respondents to the survey was not adequate consultation.
OneBurnaby Coun. Richard Lee agreed with Dhaliwal, and the two councillors opposed staff’s recommendation to allow drinking in parks year-round.
Other councillors didn’t share those concerns.
BCA Coun. Daniel Tetrault said while the city only received 45 responses in consultation, that number didn’t reflect the number of people he’s heard from directly who responded positively to the program.
BCA Coun. Pietro Calendino said people who want to drink in parks will do it whether there’s a city bylaw or not.
“As long as it doesn’t create a nuisance, and doesn’t bother the neighbourhood, let it be,” Calendino said.
“I mean, the rest of the world does it,” he said.
The motion passed 6–2; Dhaliwal and Lee opposed.
