Clearview to eliminate facility ‘grandfathering’
Similar to its ice allocation policy, Township of Clearview has approved a new Sports Field Allocation Policy outlining the allocation of soccer fields and baseball diamonds.
“As the Clearview community grows in population, the township must be mindful of the increased demand for recreational facilities and programs. The use of the township’s sports fields is a privilege, not an entitlement. It must be allocated as fairly as possible while recognizing the challenges of providing diamond time and access to soccer fields in a high-demand user environment,” reported Terry Vachon, Director of Parks and Recreation at the Feb. 9 council meeting.
“The other purpose is to guide users of township fields (Stayner, New Lowell, Nottawa and Creemore) in understanding the use of prime- time hours and to eliminate ‘grandfathering’ of historical schedules for user time allocation. The elimination of grandfathering is expected to be fully addressed by the spring of 2026.”
Trevor Harris, president of New Lowell Minor Baseball, asked that new fees, specifically relating to the one-hour diamond youth rental fee, be phased in more gradually while still getting where they would be by 2028 (increasing from $6.25 per hour in 2026, $8.75 per hour in 2027 and $10.56 per hour in 2028). Harris cited financial planning and affordability as reasons for the graduated fee increase. Vachon said Harris brought forward some valid concerns and had no issue with accepting his recommendations. The new sports field allocation policy and updated user rates applies to all users and the following rates would apply by 2028:
- Diamond, adult per hour: $22.66
- Diamond, youth per hour : $10.56
- Diamond, lights per hour: $10.30
- Tournament, diamond/day: $126.69
- Tournament, additional diamonds: $63.35
- Pavilion rental/day: $79.57
- Soccer, youth per hour: $10.72
- Soccer, adult per hour: $16.17
Priority for sports field time allocation
The priority order for sports field allocation will be:
- Clearview Township programs and services;
- Clearview minor sport groups that provide programs serving youth 21 years of age and younger and that are not currently in a pre-approved license agreement;
- Non-municipal minor sports groups;
- Tournaments and special events;
- Adult groups;
- Commercial and occasional groups;
- 7. Non-municipal groups and occasional users.
