Many residents ignore city’s law against dogs in parks
Some pet owners don’t know or care about ordinance.
Julie Tittel didn’t know it, but what she did for her dog earlier this month made her a scofflaw.
After pulling into Grandview Heights’ Wyman Woods Park, she scrambled out of her car with three children and Bruno, her boxer. Although Bruno was on a leash and behaving, his presence at the park meant Tittel was breaking a Grandview law.
With few exceptions, Grandview has banned dogs in public places such as parks since 1987.
Tittel argues that pets, for many people, are family members and, if on a leash and owners clean up after them, they should be allowed in public places, especially parks.
“How are they going to get exercise?” asked Tittel, who lives in Fifth by Northwest, a Columbus neighborhood abutting Grandview.
Others believe people and animals don’t always mix and they shouldn’t have to share public parks with pets.
“When a big dog is racing through the park, if you’ve got a 2-year-old toddler, that’s not a good matchup,” said Grandview Councilman Steven Reynolds, a dog owner himself.
Now, the city in the middle, is facing some pet owners who neither know nor care about the law.
“There are some parks where we don’t allow them at all and some are (bringing them) anyway,” said City Manager Patrik Bowman.
Most of the Grandview parks that ban dogs have posted notices. The Wyman Woods sign is at the southwest corner of the Goodale Boulevard park.
Signs don’t always prevent owners from taking dogs where they are banned, however.
In one case, a man was playing fetch with his dog in the outfield of a public park with a baseball field. He was told by a Grandview Parks and Recreations employee what he was doing was against the law. The man responded, “So what” and kept playing with his dog, Bowman said.
The intent of the law, Bowman said, is to keep most public areas safe for children and free of dog droppings, which can lead to hookworms and Hepatitis A.
Grandview allows dogs at six parks - Triangle, Burr Avenue, Yard Street, a grassy area at Wallace Gardens, Goodale west of Urlin Avenue and the area at the intersection of Parkway Drive and Oxley Road. Pet owners say those spots are less than ideal because they are small.
Often, the city doesn’t push the issue, but it’s getting complaints.
Dog-owner Samuel Coriell, 18, said he agrees with the ban.
“I don’t think they should let dogs where kids are,” Coriell said as he was legally walking Buddy, his beagle mix. “They’ve had problems with people cleaning up their dogs’ mess. They don’t want little kids stepping in poop.”
Grandview’s Brady Smith also agrees — to a point — even as he violated the ordinance.
He and his children were walking Brinkley, his golden doodle, at Wyman Woods, very near Tittel and Bruno.
“There’s not a whole lot of areas for him to roam around,” Smith said. He added that he agreed that dogs shouldn’t be allowed where children play, but banning them from parks is too strict, especially for responsible owners who clean up after their dogs and keep them on a leash.
Both Smith and Tittel suggested a dog park.
“Mayor (Ray) DeGraw would be mayor for life if we could find space for a dog park,” Bowman said.
Dog parks require about 2 acres — valuable space in 1.3-square-mile Grandview. “We don’t have two acres for a soccer field much less a dog park,” Bowman said.
Guilty offenders don’t have to fear time behind bars. The maximum penalty for bringing dogs where they are banned in Grandview is $150 per incident.