Lawsuit Challenges Dog Park Plan

Site of the planned park entrance. Weston Today photo

July 26, 2024 | by Ted Craft

A complaint filed in Superior Court aims to block construction of a dog park in Weston, based on a claim that the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, Planning and Zoning Commission, and Conservation Commission “have and intend to” deny the plaintiff, Ellen Strauss, access to the planned park due to a disability.

The complaint, filed on behalf of Ms. Strauss by attorney Stephen Nevas on July 19, asks the court to issue a declaratory judgment that the permits issued by P&Z and Conservation discriminate and that using ARPA funds for the park violates federal law.

ARPA is the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which provided $3 million to Weston. In June of 2022, voters overwhelmingly approved distributing the funds to a package of projects, one being an allocation of $135,000 for access to and parking at the dog park.

The complaint also requests a temporary order restraining the Town from acting on the permits and using ARPA funds for the dog park. It also asks for an award of attorney fees.

The claim

The filing states that Ms. Strauss suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a lung disease, and claims the condition would make her and others with disabilities unable to access the park’s entrance, which has not yet been built.

The complaint describes the planned entrance as “a narrow path through the forest and accessway intermittently covered by tree roots growing on the surface to reach the facility that is located on a slope.”

The complaint notes that Ms. Strauss filed a similar objection with the Connecticut Human Rights and Responsibilities Commission (CHRO) two years ago, but says the commission “failed to complete its investigation.” The CHRO took no action and released its jurisdiction on June 18.

First Selectwoman Samantha Nestor declined to comment for this report. A call to Claire Ryan, the attorney representing the Town in this matter, was not returned. Attorney Nevas also declined to comment.

Previous litigation

As planned, a 2.8 acre dog park would be built in the center of 36 acres known as the Moore Property, which the town bought in 2003 and set aside for possible future use. The entrance would be on Lords Highway East near Richmond Hill Road.

In the seven years since the park was first proposed and the six since it was approved by voters on machine ballots in a Special Town Meeting, the project has withstood a half dozen legal challenges, not counting the CHRO complaint.

Eight months after the public vote in April of 2018, the State Elections Enforcement Commission rejected a complaint alleging election law violations in the conduct of the vote by both the Town and Weston Dog Park Inc. (The latter is the nonprofit that has raised funds to build the park.)

After the Conservation Commission approved the park plan in May of 2018, a group of residents filed a Superior Court appeal. In August of 2020 that appeal was dismissed. The plaintiffs then sought relief from the Appellate Court, which in the following November declined to review the case.

In early 2022, when Town officials received cost estimates far higher than had been projected four years earlier, a downsized and lower-cost park plan was submitted to the Conservation Commission, which approved it that March. That approval was again challenged in Superior Court, with the same result: dismissal, in August of 2023.

The plaintiffs once again took their case to the Appellate Court, which denied the appeal in December of 2023, ruling that it was filed too late. Four weeks later, the court denied a request to reconsider its decision.

Lawsuit Challenges Dog Park Plan

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