Inverlea Park ruled out as site for new firehall
City to launch online public consultation to look at the other two ‘viable options’ left on the table
City councillors voted unanimously Monday to remove Inverlea Park from the short list of sites being considered for the city’s new north-end firehall.
The vote was preliminary. It must be ratified at a city council meeting.
It’s come to light that the city is obliged under the Charlotte Jane Nicholls land trust agreement from1890 to keep the Riverside Park at Dennistoun Avenue and Parkhill Road undeveloped. Many neighbours of the park have said they don’t want their park replaced with a firehall.
“I’m glad Inverlea Park is no longer on the list,” said Coun. Dean Pappas. “I think it should never have been on the list. There’s a severe lack of green space in the central area. I understand why it was there, but I’m definitely supportive of removing it from the list.”
It leaves two possible locations for the new north-end fire hall: Sunset Park at Sunset Boulevard and Chemong Road and the now-closed Northcrest Arena on Marina Boulevard at Water Street (which Pappas predicted on Monday will win out, after council carries out a public consultation).
Inverlea Park was under consideration, according to a new city staff, because it offers good response time to the entire north end of the city in addition to boat access to the Otonabee River.
Coun. Lesley Parnell said the historic trust that protects the park must be honoured and the neighbours have made it clear they don’t want the area developed into a firehall.
“It’s important to protect our green spaces — absolutely. But that’s the trade-off,” Parnell said. “People opposed to this location must know that ...We just have to be very transparent in what we’re doing ... But we will respect the neighbourhood and remove this site.”
Coun. Kim Zippel noted there will be a public consultation carried out through the city’s website.
The city is looking to replace its aging north-end Fire Station 2, currently located at 1558 Carnegie Ave. It was built in 1968 and has repeatedly flooded and has been repaired, according to a city staff report from July. It’s inaccessible for people with physical challenges and doesn’t meet the current fire station standards.
The city hired Dillon Consulting to review city-owned sites where the new firehall could go. It narrowed the sites to three locations; Northcrest Arena, Inverlea Park and Sunset Park.
Meanwhile other north-end neighbours have protested considering Chemong and Sunset Park, which is near Walmart
and has a trail running through it.
Coun. Stephen Wright asked city staff what would happen if the public consultation turns up evidence that neither of the two remaining locations is suitable.
City manager of facilities and planning initiatives Gillian Barnes replied that staff and consultants searched the city for nearly two years. Barnes said she’s “confident” both Sunset Park and Northcrest Arena are “viable options” and one of the two will be chosen.
She also said it’s worth carrying out an investigation to be sure the best site is chosen.
But Coun. Lesley Parnell said one of the considerations has to be the need to eventually put a stormwater management pond on the green space at Chemong
and Sunset.
Parnell is the arenas, parks and recreation chair for the city and said it’s a green space, rather than a formal park.
There will soon be a need to put a stormwater management pond there or else the city would face higher costs to rebuild and widen Chemong Road because it will need far larger stormwater sewers without a pond.
“Please make sure those details are included when we evaluate the Northcrest site — which people seem pretty comfortable with — and the Sunset site,” she said.
More information is posted by the city at peterborough.ca/en/ city-hall/fire-station-2-relocation-project.aspx