BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

CANTON -- The village may be updating its code to include an open hours law for its municipal parks. 

Village Mayor Mike Dalton told trustees at their Oct. 21 meeting that the village police department brought the issue to the board for consideration. 

Village Police Chief Ryan Cole said he had reviewed the codes for several other local municipalities and they had some ordinance in place to manage the park hours for specific daytime and nighttime operation hours, but that Canton did not have any law on the books. 

The village does have signage stating hours that the board of trustees had voted on, said Dalton, but there was no official code in place. 

"We need to have something stating it, putting it down as a law, instead of just putting it on a sign," said village attorney Scott Goldie during discussion. 

"I just want to make sure it's enforceable," Dalton said. "And if he writes a ticket, you have to stand behind it." 

Goldie said, before drafting a new code, the board should consider the times for the hours of operation, pointing out that in Bend in the River Park for instance, there are lights that allow after dark use of the park. 

Dalton added that in some cases there would be softball games or other activities that could go later than  a standard set of hours would allow. 

"I don't know how we state this," the mayor said. 

Cole said he would confer with the village recreation department and develop some suggestions for opening and closing times. 

"Part of it was dealing with homelessness and you know some problems that were caused in the parks as a result," Dalton said. 

I mean you have to say that there's also no camping," Goldie said.

"Yeah, no camping overnight," Dalton said. 

The board also discussed allowing permits for alternative uses.  

Changes to the code are expected to be discussed at a future board meeting. If approved, a public hearing on the proposed code change would be scheduled before final approval. 

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