DOG PARK CASE DECIDED

COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF LAKEWOOD

Today, Common Pleas Court Judge Carolyn B. Friedland ruled in favor of the City of Lakewood in the Lakewood Dog Park case which was filed by the City of Rocky River and its residents in 2007. Judge Friedland found that the dog park does not constitute a nuisance and has denied the Plaintiff’s request for an injunction.

“We are pleased that the Court has ruled in our favor,” stated Mayor Michael P. Summers. “We are grateful that the residents of Lakewood and the surrounding communities will be able to continue to enjoy the use of the dog park and we will continue to strive to be good neighbors.”

In Judge Friedland’s Journal Entry, she found that the Lakewood Dog Park was not a public nuisance under Lakewood ordinances was not a common law public nuisance and was not a private nuisance. The Journal Entry states “The Court cannot conclude that the operation of the dog park amounts to an appreciable, substantial, tangible injury resulting in actual material and physical discomfort to the High Parkway residents. Nor can the Court conclude that the dog park is an unreasonable use under the circumstances.”

The Lakewood Dog Park opened in 2003 and provides a fenced-in area where owners may exercise their dogs off leash to play and socialize with other dogs. The Dog Park is located at 1299 Metropark Drive in the Metroparks.

In 2007, the City of Rocky River and four residents from the High Parkway filed a lawsuit alleging that that barking from the dog park constituted a nuisance. After numerous attempts to settle this matter, a bench trial was held in July of 2010 to decide this matter. Today’s ruling was the decision from that trial.

# # #