Lions Park neighbours ask for redesign

KINGSVILLE — A group of concerned citizens, the Lions Park Residents Group, spoke to Kingsville Council on Monday, July 12 about recent upgrades and incidents in the park.

Justin Lafontaine, speaking on behalf of the group, cited numerous incidents over the past two years regarding aggressive behaviour, foul language and cars driving through the park.

Lafontaine thanked OPP for increasing patrols and thanked the town for installing barriers, but feels those efforts have fallen short.

“Even with those efforts, it’s not working,” he said.

The town recently passed a ‘sunset bylaw’ to curtail after-dark activities in the park.

One of the challenges of Kingsville’s smallest neighbourhood park is that it is not visible from the street.

Upgrades to the park are in the works by the town and the neighbourhood group would like those upgrades paused until a redesign can be done to help with the issues.

Councillor Tony Gaffan doesn’t want a pause put on the process.

“It’s important to fix the problems, not stop development,” he said. “We need to keep moving forward. This plan has been in the works for six to eight years now.”

Councillor Tom Neufeld said there has been a minimum of 12 drafts for the Lions Park redesign.

The group suggested a collaborative effort between the neighbours, the OPP and the municipality and also mentioned a park watch group being formed.