Laval urged to allow residents to barbecue in parks
With summer approaching, Laval city councillor Claude Larochelle says he's getting phone calls from residents asking why the city doesn't allow them to barbecue in public spaces.
"It's forbidden to cook or to have any kind of fire in our parks and I don't know why," said Larochelle, city councillor of Fabreville and a member of the city's official opposition party.
"When we started to dig into the possibilities for our citizens, we just realized: no, you can always have special permission, but it's done only for major events — never for a family or group of friends.
So Larochelle tabled a motion and also started a petition to see how many Laval residents like the idea.
"We would like to offer this opportunity to the citizens of Laval and to the families to give them the opportunity to just get together around a good meal and just spend some time with their family."
Larochelle says the current bylaw is outdated. Adopted in 1979, it states that is illegal "to light and/or keep lit fires" in municipal parks.
He says outdoor grilling in public parks is done all over the world, and it's time for Laval to update its books.
"We are not inventing anything. This exists already, in fact, not only in Quebec but across the country and North America. Go in any rest area in the United Stated and you will have your little barbecue zones."
Just south of Laval, in Montreal, people are allowed to barbecue in some parks as long as they follow certain rules.
For example, in Jarry Park, barbecuing is allowed in a certain designated area. Other rules include disposing ashes in the park's fireproof garbage cans and not leaving behind empty propane tanks.
Larochelle said he will leave it to the city's urban experts to decide in which parks barbecuing could be permitted, and what equipment would be required.
Larochelle's motion will be debated at the next council meeting in June.
More Laval news:
