Q: What is the libaility of a City park abutting residences, if a patron goes into an adjacent backyard to retrieve a ball?
There is a public City park that abuts neighborhood residences. Kids will often lose their balls in one of the neighbors backyards, so they jump the wall or fence and go into the yard of the homeowner to retrieve the ball. The homeowner wants the City to build a higher wall for them. What is the liability on the City, if any, when one of its parks abuts residences? Is there an obligation or duty to put up a fence or rock wall, even if it is not on City property? The park is already built. What happens or where does the liability fall if a child that jumps the homeowners wall, injuries him/herself, or the owner injures the child thinking it's a robber, etc.?
A: The city would basically be like any other neighbor and not responsible for the actions of the patrons who decide to trespass. One could possibly make an argument for dangerous condition of public property (if that is a theory in Texas) since the design seems to be poor if this happens often. AS to injuries, there is no bright-line rule, it would depend on the circumstances of the injury. This is like asking who is at fault when two cars collide; answer, don't know, need specific facts of the accident.
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