Road hockey feud has forever altered Kingston neighbourhood
Jordan Press
Kingston Whig-Standard

Longwood Terrace, a short cul-de-sac nestled away between Collins Bay and Woodbine roads, is the centre of the debate about whether to legalize street hockey.
City council couldn't come to a decision and instead has delayed concluding the matter until the spring at the earliest. For now, playing sports on city streets remains illegal.
The debate has divided a city as residents on both sides of the issue have crowded council and committee meetings in attempts to persuade city politicians to favour their side.
On Longwood Terrace, the debate has had a much more debilitating effect: It has forever divided a neighbourhood.
"It's just shot all to hell. Nobody up here speaks anymore," said resident Penny Faulkner, who opposes changing the bylaw to legalize street sports.
Faulkner said there is no way to resolve the tension among the neighbours.
"The damage is done now," she said. "It will never be repaired."
Wednesday morning in a Kingston courtroom, a local radio station pleaded guilty to violating the city's noise bylaw during a remote broadcast from the street that tried to highlight the controversial issue.
The plea from CTV Limited, which owns radio station Bob FM, meant the lone resident named in the case didn't face a fine.
The city dropped charges against resident Dave Pople and broadcasters Mike Reid and Carl Richards in exchange for the station's guilty plea.
The station will pay a $220 fine.
"They're showing some remorse and saving the city some considerable trial time," city prosecutor Mark McLaughlin told the court.
During the months of debate, Pople has found himself to be one of the people speaking on behalf of those in favour of changing the bylaw, appearing before council more than a year ago to urge officials to make the change.
He had hoped a political decision on the matter would have been made before the start of 2008.
"It's definitely gone on longer than I had anticipated," Pople said. "The wheels at City Hall are really, really grinding slowly."
Those wheels started grinding in early June when Pople stood before city councillors and asked them to start the process to change the bylaw. The move stemmed from a dispute between neighbours.
Some on the west-end street weren't happy with the way the children played. They complained about property damage and children not listening when asked to stay off the lawn.
One day, one resident stumbled on the fact that sports are not allowed on city streets. The bylaw, however, is complaint-driven, meaning if there are no complaints, then no action is taken.
The resident filed a complaint, and a few days later, a municipal bylaw officer handed out notices to 13 homes on the street alerting them to the fact that street sports were illegal and violators could face a fine of up to $5,000.
Since that time, there have been 12 complaints and warnings issued on Longwood Terrace with regards to playing street hockey, said bylaw enforcement manager Kim Leonard. She said that number is the highest of any street in the city.
So far this year, Leonard said, there have been 11 street-sports complaints to the bylaw office, of which three are from Longwood Terrace.
The debate around the city council chamber took a peculiar turn in November. A city committee recommended that the bylaw stay as is, based on information from staff that allowing sports on streets would open up the city to possible lawsuits if someone were injured while playing in the street.
A majority of city councillors weren't convinced and instead decided to have municipal staff craft a bylaw legalizing road hockey based on a similar law in Ottawa.
(The problem with the Ottawa bylaw is that while it legalized street hockey, it didn't change sections of the city's traffic and parking bylaw that prohibits anyone from playing sports on a roadway. Basically, Ottawa passed a bylaw that can't be enforced.)
A draft bylaw is scheduled to be presented to the arts, recreation and community policies committee next month.
Councillor Rob Matheson, whose district includes Longwood Terrace, introduced the idea of changing the bylaw. He said the whole thing has taken longer than he expected. The problem, he said, is that committees are overloaded with work.
He wants to see the debate come to an end very soon.
"I'd like to see it be done with by the time people are able to play street hockey this summer," Matheson said.
While it might have divided neighbours, Matheson said the bylaw has brought together residents in favour of changing the bylaw.
Throughout the debate, Pople and Faulkner talked about their difference of opinion on the matter. But the grind of the debate and the emotions involved have taken their toll.
They have been neighbours for eight years and were good friends.
They don't talk anymore.
"It's definitely black and white now," said Pople. "The line has been drawn in the sand."
The problem, Pople said, is that he doesn't think a council decision will close the rift that has been opened between neighbours on Longwood Terrace.