Judge makes partial ruling in lawsuit four years old

101.7/WGOG NEWS learned that a circuit judge granted partial summary judgment today in a lawsuit that pitted the city of Seneca and a couple who’ve sought to be allowed to rent their lake development home on a short-term basis.  The lawsuit for Leonard and Julie Chace was filed in the common pleas court in 2017 and was temporarily withdrawn before being restored to the active docket two years later.  It’s believed 10th Circuit Judge Maddox approved a partial summary judgment for the Chaces based on a memorandum filed by the couple’s lawyer.  The plaintiffs seek the court’s recognition that they have a vested right to continue to lease their Northampton Road property short-term.  In recent years, the controversy over short-term rentals brought Normandy Shores residents to city council chambers in protest of short-term rentals and eventually led Seneca to approve a new short-term rental city law.