VERMILION TWP. — A long-running zoning dispute involving a Cherry Road property has been dismissed after an Erie County Common Pleas Court judge found the Erie County Prosecutor did not have standing to bring the case.
The May 22 ruling, issued by Judge Richard J. McMonagle, dismissed the case involving Robert and Jessica Dunn’s property at 12809 Cherry Road.
In plain terms, the court found the prosecutor did not have the legal right to bring the action
The ruling is the latest development in a dispute involving the Dunn family, Vermilion Township and Erie County officials over fill dirt, drainage concerns, zoning enforcement and whether the property qualified for an agricultural exemption under township zoning rules.
What the judge ruled
The May 22 judgment dismissed the case brought by the Erie County Prosecutor.
The judge found the prosecutor did not have standing to bring the action. In plain terms, that means the court found the prosecutor did not have the legal right to pursue the case.
The dismissal was made without prejudice. That means the case is over in its current form, but it does not permanently block future legal action if a court finds another claim was brought by someone with the legal right to bring it.
The ruling was issued after an earlier court order questioned whether the case had been properly pursued from the beginning.
How the case got there
The underlying dispute centers on property owned by Robert and Jessica Dunn on Cherry Road in Vermilion Township.
According to an April court order, a zoning citation was issued against the Dunns on Feb. 27, 2024, involving fill dirt placed on the property without a zoning permit.
The order states that on May 16, 2025, then-Zoning Inspector Joseph Baxter issued a Notice of Compliance finding there was no zoning violation because the Dunn property was agricultural and therefore exempt from township zoning ordinances.
Erie County Assistant Prosecutor Charles Bennett later filed an appeal to the Vermilion Township Board of Zoning Appeals on behalf of himself, the Erie County Commissioners and the Vermilion Township Board of Trustees, according to the court order.
That appeal became a major issue in the case.
Why the authorization issue matters
Before the May dismissal, the court had already found that the BZA appeal was not authorized by the Vermilion Township trustees.
In an April 21 order, McMonagle found the appeal was not properly started and should not have been filed on behalf of the township trustees in the first place.
According to the order, former Vermilion Township Trustee Kurt Johnson and current Trustee Don Rowe each testified they never authorized or instructed Bennett to file the appeal on behalf of the township trustees.
The order also states that Johnson and Rowe later instructed Bennett to dismiss the appeal, but that the appeal was not dismissed.
That finding is important because it moves the story beyond a normal zoning disagreement. The issue became not only whether the Dunn property violated township zoning rules, but whether officials had the authority to pursue the appeal the way they did.
Questions about the appeal had already surfaced during a July 2025 Vermilion Township Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, including whether the appeal had been filed on time and whether the proper parties had the legal right to pursue it.
The issue has been the subject of prior reporting by Vermilion Daily as the dispute moved through the township and court process.
Dunn says drainage concerns remain
Robert Dunn said the family’s concerns have also included drainage and flooding issues affecting the property.
In a recent email to Vermilion Daily, Dunn said the family had offered Vermilion Township and Erie County an easement to construct what he described as a suitable ditch through the property.
Dunn said the family also supplied expert reports that, in his view, showed county drainage work redirected stormwater onto the Dunn property to the benefit of nearby property owners, Erie County Commissioners and Vermilion Township Trustees.
Dunn said the family’s position is that stormwater cannot legally be redirected onto a landowner’s property in a way that harms the property owner’s use of that land.
He also said he offered to take a week off work to help with the ditch work so nearby properties would not be flooded, but said the family was told the issue was their property and their responsibility.
Those claims reflect Dunn’s position in the dispute. Vermilion Daily has not independently reviewed the expert reports or easement documents.
What happens next
The May 22 ruling dismisses the case brought by the Erie County Prosecutor, but it does not appear to end every part of the dispute.
In an earlier order, the judge said the Dunns’ counterclaim could continue. That means the Dunns can continue pursuing their own claims, including claims related to alleged damages.
The court also scheduled a June 3 hearing to deal with those issues and other requests for court action.
The May 22 ruling can also be appealed.
For now, the case leaves two major findings: the court found the BZA appeal was not authorized by the township trustees, and the court later found the Erie County Prosecutor did not have standing to bring the case.