At 10 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16, members of the Granville Village Council put the weeks of deliberation on dog leash laws to rest with an official amendment mandating dog leashes.
In 30 days, dogs in Granville must wear a leash in public throughout the village of Granville with one notable exception: the front lawn of Bryn Du Mansion.
In a unanimous decision, the council passed an amended version of Ordinance 10-2025. The ordinance amends section 505.01 of the codified ordinances of the Village of Granville by changing the law from covering only specific parts of the village to a blanket law that will apply to all public premises of the village, minus the Bryn Du front lawn.
The initial amendment to the ordinance included extensions to the TJ Evans bike path and other sidewalks throughout Granville. Over the course of their meetings, the council decided to create a separate ordinance that would apply the leash law to the entire village to alleviate confusion about which properties the law applied to.
The amendment to include the green expanse of the iconic Bryn Du lawn came after council members expressed concern about how popular the lawn is among dog owners. Many residents utilize the lawn as a space for dogs to run free and race after flying balls.
“Dogs need to get out and run and get some exercise, Bryn Du is an outlet for that,” Council Member Joe Leithauser said. “We’ve got friends that are older. They can’t run with their dog anymore, and that’s how their dog gets exercise. They enjoy it, it gets them outside.”
The only times dogs must be leashed at the Bryn Du Mansion front yard is if there is an event, like one of the summertime Concerts on the Green or a lacrosse game. Otherwise, the yard is fair game.
The other exceptions to the ordinance include exceptions for service animals, dogs performing in a demonstration or dog show and for K-9 police dogs. The previous amendment to the ordinance only included language about exempting service animals.
During the public comment portion of the hearing, Dan Bellman – who served two terms on Granville Village Council and as mayor for two years before leaving office in 2003 – made clear his stance on the ordinance.
“All dogs on the bike path are good dogs,” Bellman said to the council. “The dogs who are not trained and under control are leashed. My dogs are safer off-leash.”
Bellman suggested the ordinance would make Granville appear unfriendly, and that the ordinance should include language about cats, not just dogs, if it were to pass. Bellman also noted a 2020 incident in which Granville Police determined that Bellman’s dogs were under control after a resident made a concerned call about the four, unleashed dogs with Bellman on the bike path.
“The police saw how I could handle my dogs, they were under control,” Bellman said. “There was really a lot to do about nothing.”
Jennifer Weiss testified in support of the full village law after encountering an aggressive, unleashed dog on the bike path in April.
“At that time, I had a problem with a dog owner who refused to take control of her off-leash dog,” Weiss said. “I went to the police to discuss the incident, and the police told me that they get complaints all the time.”
Weiss also pointed out that a recent Newark Advocate story about Avery’s Law, which is not yet a law but is outlined in House Bill 247, reported that Ohio sees 17,000 dog attacks each year, with 400 children coming to Nationwide Children’s Hospital with dog bites.
In Granville, there have been 13 dog bite cases since 2019, with half of those occurring on village property according to Village Manager Herb Koehler.
“We can’t allow a minority of people to prevent us from keeping our community safe,” Weiss ended her public comment.
The law will go into full effect 30 days from July 16. The grace period allows the council to communicate the new law to the village while allowing time for residents to pursue a referendum if they feel strongly against the ordinance.
Maddie Luebkert writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.