Billionaire Cloudflare CEO's lawsuit over his neighbors' dogs is getting wild
Matthew Prince's neighbors say the lawsuit is retaliation for opposing his plans to build his dream home in the ritzy ski town.
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- Matthew Prince is suing his Park City neighbors over their Bernese Mountain dogs.
- They say it's retaliation for opposing Prince's plans to build his dream home.
- There's a hearing Tuesday at City Hall over whether Prince can proceed with the mansion.
Matthew Prince, the billionaire cofounder of cybersecurity company Cloudflare, is waging a legal battle with his neighbors over their Bernese Mountain dogs, Sasha and Mocha.
But his neighbors, Eric Hermann and Susan Fredstom-Hermann, say the suit is actually retaliation for opposing Prince's plans to build his dream home in the ritzy ski town, The Wall Street Journal reports.
"The Large Dogs have aggressively approached, chased, and harassed the residents and guests of the Plaintiff's Property," the suit reads, adding that the Hermanns are "senior and frail and unable to control the Large Dogs."
The Hermanns told the Journal they didn't believe their dogs had ever interacted with the Prince family.
"Since we became the face of the community trying to preserve Old Town's unique character by preventing construction of a monster mansion the size of our city hall, we have been brutally harassed," Eric Hermann told local outlet KPCW.
The suit has caught the attention of locals, with residents affixing "Free Sasha & Mocha" stickers around town, the Journal reports.
Prince grew up in Park City and moved back from San Francisco in 2019, according to the Journal. He's currently designing a home for his family whose grand size some locals — including the Hermanns — say runs afoul of regulations, the Journal reports.
The Hermanns filed an appeal in March in order to block Prince's building permit, KPCW reports.
The Princes say the size squabbles are miscalculations, and that some neighbors supported their project, per the Journal.
In addition to the Sasha and Mocha suit, Prince has also brought another suit against the Hermanns over a wall on their property that he alleges infringes on land he owns, according to the Journal. The Hermanns characterized that suit to the Journal as further retaliation.
An appeal panel will host a hearing Tuesday at City Hall over whether Prince should be allowed to move forward with construction. The three-person panel could render a decision or choose to vote at a later date, according to KPCW.
This is not the first time that Prince's property fight has made national headlines. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that he had acquired a local newspaper called the Park Record, which began covering his home plans more consistently and supportively.
Lawyers for Prince did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.