Toronto councillor Mike Layton held a public meeting Thursday night to address complaints about drunken behaviour in Trinity Bellwoods Park.
Approximately 150 concerned residents, including members of the Trinity Bellwoods Community Association, city representatives, and the Toronto police were in attendance.
Thursday's meeting at the assembly hall of the Trinity Bellwoods Community Centre comes as Toronto police are cracking down on alcohol consumption in the popular west-end park. As a result of a spike in complaints, police have increased their presence in the area with more bylaw officers patrolling the park.
In Toronto, imbibing in alcohol in public can result in a $125 fine.
"While in a park, no person shall consume, serve or sell alcoholic beverages unless in designated areas, authorized by permit, and with the approval of the Liquor Licence Board of Ontario," reads a section from the Toronto Municipal Code.
Despite the rules against the public consumption of alcohol in Toronto, some residents feel the city should be more flexible and allow for responsible drinking in Trinity Bellwoods.
"I find it very unfair that they basically want to punish everyone. I think there should be a way to address the people who are being loud and rambunctious and not necessarily ruin the fun for everyone," Paula Provost told CTV Toronto before the meeting.
Provost, who admits to having seen people get "really, really drunk" there, says the majority of park-goers are responsible and respectful.
Melanie Warnock, a Toronto resident, said she sometimes comes to Trinity Bellwoods to enjoy a bottle of wine with her friends.
"It’s nothing debaucherous," she said. "It’s just a picnic atmosphere. We usually bring some food, might play a game of croquet and the fact that somebody or a group of people want to stop us from being able to do that seems a little ridiculous because we’re adults."
Warnock said she decided to attend Thursday's meeting because she wanted to see who was taking issue with the "jovial gatherings" in the popular green space.
An petition urging the city to relax its enforcement of the public alcohol consumption rule has been posted online.
According to the petition’s author, Ben Johnson of Toronto, the increase presence of police officers "for the sake of fining people" is a waste of city resources.
"It's time the city recognized that Torontonians are capable of respectful, responsible alcohol consumption and formally allowed drinking in public parks."
As of Friday afternoon, 2,681 people had signed the petition.
