[1] Howell Park, east of Telegraph Road between Fenkell Avenue and Schoolcraft Avenue, has 250 acres (100 ha) of land, making it the fourth largest park in Detroit; this is about one fourth of the area of Belle Isle or .25 square miles (0.65 km2).
[2] In the Spring of 2009 the City of Detroit stopped mowing Howell and other parks in order to save money.
[4] In August 2008, Howell Park Properties, the family owned business of Kenneth "Ken" Cheyne;[3] a 65-year-old developer from Beverly Hills, Michigan,[2] and a grandson of Eliza Howell;[3] filed a lawsuit against the City of Detroit in circuit court, stating that the city is violating the deed restriction by not maintaining the park.
MacDonald said "But the 138 acres that Cheyne lays claim to are the most suitable for redevelopment, since much of the city's share is in a flood plain.
[6] Cheyne said that he had proposed developing commercial and residential properties to the administration of the Mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick by releasing the deed restrictions.
That year, Christine MacDonald of The Detroit News said "Nature has reclaimed much of the park, turning it into a de facto preserve, and some say that's a beautiful thing.
Riet Schumack, a Brightmoor resident quoted in MacDonald's article, said that visitors often see coyotes, deer, foxes, blue herons, and great horned owls; and that Indian pipe and trillium grow in the park.