Clifton Park Residents in Legal Feud With Clifton Club Over Beach Use

A dispute over a private beach between and the nearby Clifton Park residents — who are also members — has found its way into a Cuyahoga County court.

Four residents, who recently filed a complaint in Cuyahoga County Probate Court, argue that that club’s membership of 230 has crowded the once-quiet lakefront beach at the mouth of the Rocky River. 

The Plain Dealer reported Monday that the four plaintiffs are seeking to close the beach to the dues-paying members of the club.

They’re asking for a declaratory judgment from probate court Judge Anthony Russo.

According to the Plain Dealer story, resident Dennis Butler — also an attorney advising the complainants — said legal action was necessary to protect the rights of property owners. 

“They're elbowing out and crowding out the people from Clifton Park," Butler said.

According to the complaint, filed in June, the club “has taken the position that the club members’ rights to use the beach are equal to the plaintiffs and other sub-lot owners.”

Not so, say the plaintiffs.

According to the complaint, the beach is for “the sole use and benefit of all the owners of the sublots in the Clifton Park Allotment and their household members, and no one else.”