LAKEWOOD, Ohio — A Lakewood dentist's calls for change over a scooter station located near his Madison Avenue practice have officially been answered.
News 5 confirms the city of Lakewood has removed the scooter station from out front of Dr. Greg DeVor's office— to the opposite corner of the street.
DeVor previously said his elderly and handicapped patients were directly impacted by the placement of the scooters.
He told News 5 he was never given any prior notice of the location until they were dropped off out front one morning last week.
"You said you can't fight city hall, but dang it... I'm gonna try!" said DeVor.
Through a torn meniscus and thick knee brace, DeVor spent each morning moving scooters out of the road and onto the sidewalk near his practice.
"It's been a stressful week for sure. I've gotten a lot of negative feedback from patients," said DeVor.
Handicapped and elderly patients used the spot along Madison Avenue to get picked up and dropped off for the last 15 years.
Now, Devor says he was told by Lakewood it’s illegal to do so since it's not a designated loading/unloading zone.
It all comes as the city rolled out its scooter pilot program last week--dropping half a dozen scooters steps away from his front door.
DeVor snapped a series of photos—he says—showing a large pick-up truck picking up the scooters and blocking part of Wyandotte Avenue earlier this week.
He says the truck prevented patients from getting dropped off.
He claims it’s also a double standard that this was even allowed because it clearly was parked in a non-loading zone.
"They were sticking about four feet into the intersection blocking the flow of traffic."
While this is an ongoing pilot program and adjustments will continue, Devor wants the scooter site to be permanently moved across the street from this point forward.
He is also calling on the city of Lakewood to re-zone the space out front of his office for his patient's safety and well-being.
"This has never officially been designated as a loading/unloading zone. Now that this is all come to light--boy, I'd really like to see this become officially lined off as such."
Lakewood City Councilman Tom Bullock confirmed the scooter station has been moved.
He released the following statement:
“You can never have enough communication, and we needed to do a better job at the City of working with businesses at scooter locations. I’m glad the City acted quickly after Dr. DeVor suggested a common sense solution, and I’m thankful Dr. DeVor is keeping an open mind about the scooter pilot project with the new, improved location. We hope scooters will be a good fit for Lakewood and we’ll evaluate the data closely.”
There are currently 12 scooter stations across Lakewood.
The city is encouraging residents to share concerns and input to improve the program.
You can provide feedback here: Bike & Scooter Share Pilot | The City of Lakewood, Ohio (lakewoodoh.gov)
