Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

People, pooches find peace at park with compromise

By SHERRI DAY
Published October 22, 2005

TAMPA - After more than seven months of squabbling about the fate of a South Tampa dog park, humans and canines will apparently try to coexist.

Twelve residents who filed a lawsuit seeking to close the dog run at the Palma Ceia Playground reached a tentative compromise Friday with the city. The group's primary point of contention was the length of the park's operating hours, which had been open daily until sunset or no later than 8 p.m.

Under the terms of the compromise, the dog park at Marti and San Nicholas streets would be open on weekdays from 8 a.m. until 7:15 p.m. or sunset, should it come sooner. On weekends, the park would open at 9 a.m. and close at 7:15 p.m., city officials said. Children's playground areas would continue to stay open until sunset, as is the case with all city parks.

The park will close next week while contractors move the dog run farther away from homeowners and closer to the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway. The run, which is undergoing a major renovation, will also be 85 feet wide instead of the 90-foot width originally proposed by the Parks and Recreation Department, lawyers for both sides said.

Luke Lirot, who represented the Palma Ceia Park residents who filed the lawsuit, said his clients found the compromise to be the most appropriate remedy.

"They're not satisfied entirely, but I think they feel satisfied that everybody has worked together to try to balance out all of the competing interests," Lirot said. "And they understood that they had to give a little. They were happy to see people on the other side give a little."

Lirot and city lawyers have been negotiating since April, when the case first appeared before Hillsborough Circuit Judge Charlotte Anderson. Rather than rule, Anderson repeatedly advised both sides to work out a settlement. By Monday, all parties could finalize a settlement agreement, Assistant City Attorney Julia Cole said. The issue would still have to go before Anderson to close the case.

"We are in the process of drafting a document relating to this potential settlement that the parties will have to review," Cole said. "The devil's in the details."

Problems at the dog park first surfaced in January when a group of residents complained of excessive noise, debris, foul odors and parking shortages. They also contended that the dog park dimensions did not meet city code, which at the time required all dog runs to be at least 1 acre.

In March, Lirot's clients filed a lawsuit against the city asking that the park be closed. Since then, little has changed at the park as both sides negotiated.

Accusations began flying again earlier this month when the Parks Department sent letters to neighboring homeowners detailing its renovation plans.

On Monday, Lirot filed for an emergency injunction to stop all work at the park until the lawsuit was settled. Two days later, city lawyers responded saying they were within their rights to improve the entire park even though the case was still pending.

Now, with a dispute nearly resolved, it appears there will be peace, pooches and a new design in Palma Ceia Park.

"We're glad that the case is settled and that plaintiffs have come to their senses," said Seth Nelson, a lawyer and Palma Ceia Park resident who filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit for several of his neighbors who wanted the dog park to remain open.

The dog run "has actually improved a sense of community and not fractured it but for a few. It's up to those individuals who filed the lawsuit to decide whether they want to be positive members of the community again."

Sherri Day can be reached at sday@sptimes.com or 813 226-3405.

[Last modified October 22, 2005, 01:13:18]