“I want it to stay a farm and I believe it met all the full requirements. I feel I don’t receive any benefit from the city of Carlisle and no matter how much I pay, I believe it’s too much,” Campbell said.
The case was tried in Warren County Common Pleas Court and denied April 29.
The Campbells and their lawyer, Rupert Ruppert of Franklin on Tuesday, July 28, filed an appeal with the 12th District Court of Appeals in Middletown.
The reason for the detachment of 40 acres in Carlisle is to protect the property as farmland, according to the appellant brief.
Under Carlisle’s comprehensive land use plan, the property is designated industrial, according to the brief, and verified by the city manager. However, that designation doesn’t mean the city wants to take the property, said Carlisle City Manager Sherry Callahan.
“I have never given (Helen Campbell) any indication that the city wants the land for development,” Callahan said.
The April trial addressed two matters related to detachment requirements. It found the detachment wouldn’t adversely affect the city. It also found the Campbell property isn’t taxed in excess of the benefits conferred upon in, the ruling appealed. An agricultural use valuation reduces the property’s tax liability.
Also contributing to disagreements between the plaintiffs and the city is that in October and November 2008, the Campbells were notified that their fence on the property was in the right of way after receiving a complaint, said Callahan.
Fence right of ways are 17 feet from the edge of the road, or edge of the right of way line, whichever is further, said Callahan. After denying a permit, the property owners had until April 2009 to remove the fence, which was six or seven feet off the road, she said.
On July 6, the city removed the fence posts, said Helen Campbell, who said she believes the city wants the land and is responding to their efforts to detach from the city.
Campbell said she wants to find the real right of way line. Also, she said she would have appealed the April court decision regardless of right of way issues.
“It’s a close issue. It could go either way,” Ruppert said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 205-2507 or clevingston@coxohio.com.
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