Durell v. Spring Valley Twp. Bd. of Zoning Appeals

2012 Ohio 5098
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 2, 2012
Docket2012 CA 23
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 2012 Ohio 5098 (Durell v. Spring Valley Twp. Bd. of Zoning Appeals) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Durell v. Spring Valley Twp. Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 2012 Ohio 5098 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

[Cite as Durell v. Spring Valley Twp. Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 2012-Ohio-5098.]

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS FOR GREENE COUNTY, OHIO

BILL DURELL, et al. :

Plaintiff-Appellee : C.A. CASE NO. 2012 CA 23

v. : T.C. NO. 09CV402

SPRING VALLEY TOWNSHIP : (Civil appeal from BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, et al. Common Pleas Court)

Defendant-Appellant :

:

..........

OPINION

Rendered on the 2nd day of November , 2012.

B. RANDALL ROACH, Atty. Reg. No. 0065537, 26 N. Wright Avenue, Fairborn, Ohio 45324 Attorney for Plaintiff-Appellee

ELIZABETH A. ELLIS, Atty. Reg. No. 0074332, Greene County Prosecutor’s Office, 61 Greene Street, Xenia, Ohio 45385 Attorney for Defendant-Appellant

FROELICH, J.

{¶ 1} The Spring Valley Township Board of Zoning Appeals (“the BZA”)

appeals from a judgment of the Greene County Court of Common Pleas, which found that 2

the BZA had acted in a manner inconsistent with prior court judgments and had

“discriminated against [Bill] Durell” when it granted a variance for property owned by

Patrick Mahaffey after denying a similar request by Durell for a variance related to his own

adjoining property. The trial court’s judgment remanded the matter to the BZA to be

“sort[ed] out.”

{¶ 2} For the following reasons, the judgment of the trial court will be affirmed

as modified.

Background and Procedural History

{¶ 3} The property at issue in this zoning dispute was originally one large parcel

of wooded land, owned by Mahaffey, abutting Spring Valley-Paintersville Road east of

Cemetery Road, in an A-10-Prime Agricultural District. The property encompassed

approximately 100 acres and had a long, somewhat rectangular shape, with the northernmost

narrow end abutting the road. Before the events at issue in this case, Mahaffey divided and

sold two parcels of land along the roadway; he retained ownership of approximately 88

acres, which was then landlocked. He also retained or subsequently obtained a 25-foot wide

access easement along the western edge of the property he had previously owned, from the

landlocked property to Spring Valley-Paintersville Road.

{¶ 4} In 1995, Mahaffey requested a variance from the BZA regarding his 88

landlocked acres. He sought to create five parcels of at least ten acres each for residential

development, which would have access to Spring Valley-Paintersville Road via a private

drive on the 25-foot access easement, but which would lack the 350-foot road frontage

normally required in an agricultural district. The BZA denied this request. [Cite as Durell v. Spring Valley Twp. Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 2012-Ohio-5098.] {¶ 5} Mahaffey appealed from the BZA’s denial of the variance, but the parties

subsequently reached an agreement, which was approved by the trial court (Greene Case

No. 95 CV 0461) (“the 1997 agreed judgment”). The agreed judgment provided, in

pertinent part:

There shall be a maximum of three (3) houses built on three (3)

surveyed ten (10) acre tracts along the private lane leading from Spring

Valley-Paintersville Road southwardly to the said three (3) ten (10) acre tracts

along the westerly boundary line of [Mahaffey’s] property.

{¶ 6} The first lot that Mahaffey sold after the 1997 agreement was an 18-acre lot

farthest from the road, which was purchased by a predecessor in interest to Durell; a house

was not immediately built upon the property. Two additional lots of approximately 10 acres

each were sold to Mitchell and Bott (or their predecessors in interest), and houses were built

on those properties. A third 10-acre lot (albeit the fourth lot) was also created; Mahaffey

apparently built a house on this lot, and later sold the developed property to the Millers or

their predecessors in interest. Mahaffey retained ownership of approximately 22 acres. It

is unclear why the first lot created after the 1997 agreement was 18 acres, rather than 10

acres, and why Mahaffey sold three additional lots when, pursuant to the 1997 agreed

judgment, development was restricted to a total of three 10-acre lots.

{¶ 7} The purchases of the first two 10-acre lots (Mitchell’s and Bott’s) were the

subject of litigation when Mahaffey allegedly breached the purchase contracts. Greene Case

No. 2000 CV 307. The judgment entry in that case required Mahaffey to convey “good,

marketable fee simple title” to the lots in question and to construct an access driveway “at

his sole expense” over the 25-foot access easement. The judgment assumed, without 4

deciding, that Mahaffey, who still owned the third ten-acre lot at that time, would be the

owner of the third house using the access driveway.

{¶ 8} Pursuant to the 1997 agreed judgment and the 2000 judgment, Mahaffey

constructed a private drive on the access easement. The houses on the three 10-acre lots use

this driveway as their primary means of access; Mahaffey also accesses his remaining 22

acres using this drive, although there is no residence on that property. Mahaffey testified

that there is a shed on his property, in which he stores tools. The drive does not extend to

Durell’s property, which is the farthest from Spring Valley-Paintersville Road. Thus,

Durell’s property remains landlocked.

{¶ 9} In approximately 2001, Mahaffey became a member of the BZA.

{¶ 10} In 2003 and 2004, Durell took a number of steps aimed at building a house

on his property. First, he sought a construction permit from the BZA, which sought to use

the easement and the private drive to access his property. However, because Mahaffey (as

the predecessor in interest to Miller) was then also seeking to construct a residence on one of

the 10-acre lots, the BZA denied Durell’s request for a construction permit. According to

Durell, representatives of the BZA instructed him to request a variance instead. The BZA

granted Durell’s request for a variance insofar as the lot lacked the required frontage, but it

denied Durell’s request to access his land via the private drive. Instead, the BZA instructed

him to access his property by constructing a separate private drive to Cemetery Road, which,

according to Durell, was approximately 18 acres away from his property, over rugged

terrain. Durell did not build such a road or a house on the property.

{¶ 11} In 2006, Durell filed a Complaint against Mahaffey for declaratory 5

judgment, unlawful interference with an easement, and slander of title. (Greene Case No.

06 CV 184). In June 2007, the trial court granted a declaratory judgment in Durell’s favor,

concluding:

* * * The April 30, 1997 order, which the Court has viewed at length

with the parties, materially provides that [Mahaffey] would be permitted three

tracts, location unspecified, and three residences, also unspecified, to be

served by a private lane to be constructed by [Mahaffey] and utilized for

access by the contemplated residences to Spring Valley Paintersville Road.

* * * [T]he April 30, 1997 decision in Case No. 95-CV-0461 does not

reasonably specify the precise location of the permitted parcels. The intent

of the parties, including but not limited to [Mahaffey’s] provision for

northerly access to [Durell’s] * * * parcel by virtue of a deeded access

easement over the private lane upon [Mahaffey’s] property, the area of

[Durell’s] parcel itself being encompassed as a proposed building tract before

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2012 Ohio 5098, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/durell-v-spring-valley-twp-bd-of-zoning-appeals-ohioctapp-2012.