“I’m disappointed,” said Beavercreek Township Trustee Carol Graff. “…This annexation suit is a bump in the roadway for continued cooperation between city and township.”
The township has no plans to appeal the recent court decision, she said.
In a news release this week, the township stated there will be no changes in fire or emergency services in the township or city and does not expect changes regarding use of the parks.
Graff said the impact of the court decision would be minimal, if any, because ownership of the land will remain the same and the bulk of the land parcels, which are owned by either the county or township, is tax exempt.
“It (the annexation) extended the city boundaries,” she said. “That possibly subjects other areas to annexation.”
The appeallate court ruling was issued on Dec. 14, more than two years after the City of Beavercreek filed a petition to annex the land on Oct., 23, 2012. The city filed the petition after the owners of Rine Landscaping, located on 5.1 acres of land on Dayton-Xenia Road, asked the municipality about annexing the property following a disagreement with the township.
“We were not privy to what the city planned,” Graff said. “We were taken by surprise. I don’t know that there was anything else we could do.”
The city filed a second petition on Dec. 4, 2012 after errors in the legal description and the map were found in the initial annexation petition.
According to court records, commissioners passed a resolution denying the initial petition on Dec. 6, 2012 stating the document had neither an accurate legal description nor map of the area to be annexed. Commissioners argued they did not have to make a decision on the second petition because it was filed before they made a decision on the first one.
In an 18-page decision dated Dec. 14, 2014, 2nd Ohio District Court of Appeals Judges Jeffrey Froelich, Mary Donovan and Jeffrey Welbaum determined the second petition met all of the statutory requirements and ruled against the county commissioners.
“…the legal description and map filed with the subsequent petition were accurate,” the judges wrote. “Notably, the commissioners do not dispute accuracy in this context. They have not satisfied their reciprocal burden to show that one or more statutory requirement is not met, or that genuine issues remain for resolution.”
Two years ago, county commissioners discussed but failed to approve the annexation petition. Greene County Commissioner Alan Anderson made a motion to approve the petition on Jan. 15, 2013, however the motion stalled when it was not seconded. Greene County Commissioner and former Beavercreek Township Trustee Bob Glaser abstained from the vote. Greene County Commissioner Tom Koogler took no action.
“We are pretty much locked in based on what the decision was from the judge,” Koogler said in reference to the recent court decision.
The issue has not been scheduled for a vote by county commissioners.
“Annexation of townships happen all the time,” said Beavercreek Mayor Brian Jarvis. “This was a simple one … and hopefully it’s on its way to completion.”
It should not have taken three years to finish, Jarvis said.
Jarvis said these type of situations could be avoided in the future if the city and township merged.
“I would rather not go through these parcel by parcel annexations,” he said. “I would rather have a merger of Beavercreek city with Beavercreek Township on the ballot. That would be my preference instead of these annexation foibles. I hope that one day that happens.”
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