YOUNGSTOWN — Judge Anthony D’Apolito and his magistrate have dismissed eight lawsuits filed by Mill Creek MetroParks five years ago to acquire private land to build the final phase of its bike path in southern Mahoning County.

The Mahoning County Common Pleas Court ruling says Ohio law does not allow Mill Creek MetroParks to use eminent domain to build a bike path.

Instead, the law allows the use of eminent domain to “acquire lands within or outside the park district for conversion to forest reserves and for the conservation of the natural resources of the State, including streams, lakes, submerged lands and swamps.” States in power.

The decision notes that the park district has “more recently characterized the proposed appropriations as revenues intended for a ‘linear park’ (but) the resolutions and lawsuits filed under those resolutions make clear that the purpose of these lawsuits is to extend the current bike path from its southern terminus to near Route 14 (state) in Washingtonville. Its southern terminus at Western Reserve Road in Canfield Township.

The decision states: “In light of the plain language of (the statute), is a bicycle path or ‘recreational trail’ or ‘bicycle path’ a legally permitted use for a park district?

The ruling continues: “Neither party has directed this court, nor has the court found any cases in the State of Ohio that support or refute” MetroParks’ claim that the law ” should be interpreted broadly enough to include recreational trails (or bike paths) as the purpose for which park districts are permitted to appropriate private lands.

The court held that the law that grants the government the authority to develop and maintain recreational trails does not apply to the park district because the park district “does not seek to acquire the lands in question for conservation natural resources of the State with a view to their conversion into forests. resources and never claimed to be.

It adds: “To the extent that the park district is authorized to acquire land for such purposes only under (state law), it is not granted any other authority, for law or law, to acquire the land sought here to build or maintain (or extend) a cycle path.

REACTIONS

When MetroParks Executive Director Aaron Young was asked if MetroParks would appeal the decision, he said in an email, “The Board of Park Commissioners is aware of Judge Anthony M. D’s decision ‘Apolito in the above appropriation case(s) and I will discuss potential next steps with legal counsel.

Molly Johnson, an attorney for one of the eight landowners, called the lawsuits against MetroParks “a classic example of government interference in the privacy and private property of Ohio residents.”

She said: “We agree that Mill Creek Park’s proposed construction of a paved trail – which would have destroyed wetlands, habitats and forest – cannot and does not meet the requirement of ‘conservation of natural resources” of the Ohio Revised Code.

“But more importantly, we hold to the principle that eminent domain is a limited governmental power that can only be used for strictly necessary governmental purposes. A cycle path, as nice as it is, is not strictly necessary.

She concluded by saying that the affected owners “deserve to live uninterrupted lives.”

The decision noted that it is not intended that the decision “shall be construed as an opinion as to the merits or demerits of the park district’s efforts to extend the bike path from its current southern terminus.” This court frequently took advantage of the bike path and lives south of its current southern end.

“The obligation of this court is to interpret and apply the law of the State of Ohio on this issue and, bearing in mind that any attempt to take private land by a park district must be interpreted strictly and narrowly,” the decision adds.

The dispute over the acquisition of rights of way to extend the cycle path has gone in many directions and various decisions have been appealed at different levels.

In the case of owner Diane Less, the case went to the Ohio Supreme Court, which remanded it to the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas in July 2023, ruling that the highest court in the The state did not have jurisdiction to decide the case because the common pleas judges would have had to hold a necessary hearing in each case. Such a hearing determines whether it is necessary for MetroParks to acquire the property.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge John Durkin, an administrative law judge, then ruled that the Less case was being consolidated with the other seven bike lane cases as part of a case handled by the court of Judge D’Apolito. Justice Durkin said each case “involves a common question of law or fact.”

This led Judge D’Aplito and his magistrate, Fowler, to handle all eight cases. Fowler conducted two hearings and heard testimony before he and the judge issued Thursday’s ruling.

Regarding Thursday’s decision, Less said she wants Mill Creek MetroParks to “leave the landowner alone to live our lives in peace” and noted that parts of the bike paths in Columbiana and Trumbull counties in places run along the public road and Washingtonville Road, near the old railway line. that MetroParks is trying to acquire “has been used as a bike path for over 20 years.”