Four Winners, Inc. v. Columbus Development Regulation Division Administrator

614 N.E.2d 775, 83 Ohio App. 3d 118, 1992 Ohio App. LEXIS 5197
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 6, 1992
DocketNo. 92AP-250.
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 614 N.E.2d 775 (Four Winners, Inc. v. Columbus Development Regulation Division Administrator) 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
Four Winners, Inc. v. Columbus Development Regulation Division Administrator, 614 N.E.2d 775, 83 Ohio App. 3d 118, 1992 Ohio App. LEXIS 5197 (Ohio Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

Deshler, Judge.

Appellant, Four Winners, Inc., appeals from a judgment of the trial, court affirming the Board of Zoning Adjustment’s (“board”) approval of the decision of appellee, the Development Regulation Division Administrator (“administrator”).

On August 7, 1990, Downtown Gynecology, Inc. applied for a building permit for 1243 East Broad Street. On August 27, 1990, the administrator issued a certificate of zoning clearance on the grounds Downtown Gynecology, Inc. intended to use the site for a medical office. Next, on September 25, 1990, the administrator granted a parking waiver for the property. Then, on October 9, 1990, the administrator issued' a building permit.

On October 15, 1990, appellant, owner of a neighboring property, appealed the administrator’s decision to the Board of Zoning Adjustment of the city of Columbus, Ohio. In objecting to the issuance of a zoning clearance, appellant contended that the subject property was not going to be used by Downtown Gynecology, Inc. (lessee of the property) as a medical office, as represented by Downtown Gynecology, Inc. in its application for a building permit and approved by the administrator, but, rather, as an abortion clinic.

On December 21, 1990, the board issued a decision in which it determined (1) appellant’s appeal to the board concerning the matter of zoning clearance had *121 been filed thirty-two days beyond the appeal time provided for in Columbus City Code 3307.07; and (2). though, according to Columbus City Code 3342.02(3)(b), the number of parking spaces on the site is one less than that required, the administrator had authority to waive the parking space requirement, pursuant to Columbus City Code 3342.02(3)(b)(6).

From that decision, appellant appealed to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. Appellant claimed the board erred by (1) finding no jurisdiction in regard to the zoning clearance; (2) finding appellant had notice of the issuance of the zoning clearance; (3) finding a parking waiver was proper; and (4) finding due process was not violated. On October 16, 1991, the trial court issued a decision in which it stated (1) the appeal to the board was not timely; and (2) Columbus City Code 3342.02(3) makes available an administrative waiver of one parking space. Further, in dicta, the trial court found the property is not going to be used as a clinic because there will be no overnight stay on the property. On January 27, 1992, the trial court journalized its decision.

Appellant now appeals and asserts five assignments of error:

“1. The trial court committed error by upholding the Board of Zoning Adjustment’s determination that the appeal was not timely filed in that the appeal was filed the day after the building permit was issued.

“2. The trial court committed prejudicial and reversible error by denying appellant’s motion to expand the record and request for the admission of additional evidence.

“3. The trial court erred by failing to conduct a trial de novo on the constitutional issues raised before the Board of Zoning Adjustment.

“4. The trial court erred as a matter of law by failing to interpret the Columbus City Code to permit the grant of an administrative parking waiver only if the property owner falls squarely within the facts of Columbus City Code 3342.02(3)(b)(6).

“5. The trial court erred as a matter of law when it failed to determine if use of the property constituted use as a clinic pursuant to Columbus City Code 3307.04.”

In appellant’s first, third and fifth assignments of error, it challenges the dismissal of its complaint concerning the zoning clearance because of its alleged failure to comply with the procedural rule set forth in Columbus City Code 3307.07, which provides:

“The Board shall not entertain any appeal applied for more than twenty (20) days after the date of the order, requirement, decision or determination appealed from or within such different time as may be specifically provided in this Zoning Code.”

*122 The procedural history, cited above, unequivocally reveals appellant has attempted to challenge the administrator’s grant of zoning clearance by way of administrative appeal. The board, while denying the appellant .the right to appeal the issue of the zoning clearance because of a lapse of time, has agreed that appellant was entitled to bring an administrative appeal relating to the grant of a zoning clearance. Likewise, the trial court recognized an administrative avenue with respect to the zoning clearance had been available but for appellant’s failure to comply with Columbus City Code 3307.07.

Despite these presumptions that the Columbus City Code provides an administrative avenue to challenge the grant of a zoning clearance to an adjoining landowner, we find the Columbus City Code lacking in the due process requirements necessary to afford a party the proper means to challenge administratively a zoning clearance to a neighboring landowner. Specifically, we find there is no mention of who may appeal a grant of a zoning clearance, i.e., no mention of whether a neighboring landowner is one who may appeal such a decision. Nor is there any mention of how one is to obtain notice, i. e., learn of a grant of a zoning clearance in order to timely file an administrative appeal.

Given these deficiencies, we find the trial court erred in acknowledging a right of administrative appeal to the board with regard to the grant of a zoning clearance. As it stands, the proper means for a neighboring landowner to challenge an alleged impermissible grant of the zoning clearance or parking waiver is by way of injunction. See R.C. Chapter 2727. Nevertheless, we find that appellant was not prejudiced by this error. Since, in actuality, no administrative avenue was available to appellant by which to challenge the administrator’s decision concerning the zoning clearance, appellant was not harmed when the board chose not to hear its appeal for procedural reasons and the trial court affirmed the decision of the board.

Thus, we find no merit in appellant’s first assignment of error concerning the administrative appeal of the zoning clearance. Since they are interrelated, we also find no merit in appellant’s third and fifth assignments of error; the issue of the propriety of granting the zoning clearance was not properly before the trial court and any discussion about the propriety of the zoning clearance was acknowledged by the trial court to be dicta. Accordingly, we overrule the first, third and fifth assignments of error.

We now turn to examine the claimed errors relating to the grant of the parking waiver, ie., the second and fourth assignments of error. In the second assignment of error, appellant contends that the trial court erred by disallowing an expansion of the record from the board, pursuant to R.C. 2506.03(A)(1) through (A)(5). Specifically, it complains (1) the transcript from the board’s *123

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614 N.E.2d 775, 83 Ohio App. 3d 118, 1992 Ohio App. LEXIS 5197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/four-winners-inc-v-columbus-development-regulation-division-ohioctapp-1992.