John Roberts Management Co. v. Village of Obetz

935 N.E.2d 493, 188 Ohio App. 3d 362
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 20, 2010
DocketNo. 09AP-1103
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 935 N.E.2d 493 (John Roberts Management Co. v. Village of Obetz) 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
John Roberts Management Co. v. Village of Obetz, 935 N.E.2d 493, 188 Ohio App. 3d 362 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

Klatt, Judge.

{¶ 1} Appellant, John Roberts Management Corporation (“JRMC”), appeals from a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas dismissing its appeal from a decision of the appellee, the village of Obetz (“the village”). For the following reasons, we reverse that judgment and remand the matter for further proceedings.

{¶ 2} JRMC operated a restaurant on property it owned in the village. At some point in 2008, the village’s Inspector and Community Services Director noticed that the restaurant appeared to have ceased operations. Pursuant to Obetz Village Ordinance 1175.12(a)(2), the director concluded that the business was terminated and that the signs on the property had been abandoned. Accordingly, the director mailed JRMC a letter informing it that the signs on the property had been abandoned and had to be removed. Obetz Village Ordinance 1175.12(b). JRMC appealed the director’s decision to the village’s Planning and Zoning Commission. After a public hearing, the Planning and Zoning Commission affirmed the director’s determination that the signs on JRMC’s property had been abandoned and had to be removed.

{¶ 3} On July 23, 2009, JRMC timely filed a notice of appeal from the commission’s decision with the village and with the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. On the same day, JRMC also filed in the trial court another document that requested the village, pursuant to R.C. 2506.02, to prepare and file a complete transcript of the proceedings. None of these documents were filed with attached certificates of service.

[364]*364{¶ 4} On September 18, 2009, the village filed a motion to dismiss the appeal. The village argued that because JRMC did not file a praecipe as required by R.C. 2506.02, the village did not file a transcript of the public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission. Therefore, the village asserted that the trial court had nothing to review and no authority to proceed. In response, JRMC pointed to its July 23, 2009 trial court filing, which, while not entitled a “Praecipe,” in substance was a praecipe because it requested the village to prepare and file a transcript. The village claimed that while JRMC may have filed a document that could be interpreted as a praecipe, JRMC never served that document on the village. The village also contended that it never received that document, and therefore, it did not file a transcript of the public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission for the trial court to review. The village reiterated that without a transcript, the trial court could not hear the appeal.

{¶ 5} The trial court dismissed JRMC’s appeal, but not for the reasons argued by the village. The trial court first concluded that JRMC filed what was, in substance, a praecipe as required by R.C. 2506.02. However, the trial court then noted that JRMC’s notice of appeal and praecipe were both filed without attached certificates of service. The trial court concluded that it could not consider JRMC’s appeal because both Civ.R. 5(D) and Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Loc.R. 19.01 prevent a court from considering documents filed without proof of service. Accordingly, the trial court dismissed the appeal.

{¶ 6} JRMC appeals and assigns the following errors:

[1.] The trial court erred in dismissing the appellant’s appeal when the appellant mailed to the appellee’s lawyer, documents, including the ORC Section 2506.02 praecipe, and filed a proof of service with the court evidencing such service.
[2.] The trial court erred in dismissing the appellant’s appeal when the appellee had actual notice of the appeal and its requirements to file a record of the proceedings pursuant to ORC Section 2506.02.
[3.] The trial court erred in dismissing the appellant’s appeal when appellee was required to file a record of the administrative proceedings pursuant to ORC Section 2506.02, and the appellee had received the clerk’s original briefing schedule requiring the appellee to file said record.

{¶ 7} Because JRMC’s assignments of error all address the trial court’s dismissal of its appeal, we will consider them together.

{¶ 8} While neither the village nor the trial court provided a clear legal theory for the dismissal of JRMC’s appeal, the village now interprets the trial court’s action as a dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. We agree with that interpretation. The question of subject-matter jurisdiction is a question of law [365]*365that we review de novo. Crosby-Edwards v. Ohio Bd. of Embalmers & Funeral Directors, 175 Ohio App.3d 213, 2008-Ohio-762, 886 N.E.2d 251, ¶ 21; Hills & Dales v. Ohio Dept. of Edn., 10th Dist. No. 06AP-1249, 2007-Ohio-5156, 2007 WL 2812988, ¶ 16.

{¶ 9} The trial court determined that because JRMC did not file its notice of appeal and praecipe with attached certificates of service, it could not consider those documents, and therefore, it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over the appeal. To analyze that decision, we must review how a common pleas court acquires jurisdiction over an administrative appeal brought pursuant to R.C. Chapter 2506.

{¶ 10} Jurisdiction over an administrative appeal does not vest in a common pleas court unless and until an appeal is perfected. Weatherholt v. Hamilton, 1st Dist No. CA2007-04-098, 2008-Ohio-1355, 2008 WL 757528, ¶ 6. R.C 2505.04 establishes the requirements for the perfection of an R.C. Chapter 2506 appeal. Russell v. Dublin Planning & Zoning Comm., 10th Dist. No. 06AP-492, 2007-Ohio-498, 2007 WL 351418, ¶ 15. When a right to appeal is conferred by statute, perfection of such an appeal is governed solely by that statute. Hansford v. Steinbacher (1987), 33 Ohio St.3d 72, 72-73, 514 N.E.2d 1385. R.C. 2505.04 provides as follows:

An appeal is perfected when a written notice of appeal is filed, * * * in the case of an administrative-related appeal, with the administrative officer, agency, board, department, tribunal, commission, or other instrumentality involved. * * * After being perfected, an appeal shall not be dismissed without notice to the appellant, and no step required to be taken subsequent to the perfection of the appeal is jurisdictional.

{¶ 11} Thus, under R.C. 2505.04, timely filing a notice of appeal with the appropriate administrative agqncy is the only jurisdictional requirement. Russell at ¶ 17, quoting Woods v. Civ. Serv. Comm. (1983), 7 Ohio App.3d 304, 305, 7 OBR 387, 455 N.E.2d 709; In re Annexation of 259.15 Acres, 159 Ohio App.3d 736, 2005-Ohio-1027, 825 N.E.2d 238, ¶ 12. The village concedes that JRMC timely filed its notice of appeal with the village. Thus, JRMC properly perfected its appeal, pursuant to R.C. 2505.04, and, as a result, the trial court acquired subject-matter jurisdiction over the appeal. Russell.

{¶ 12} Nevertheless, the village contends that JRMC’s failure to file its notice of appeal in the trial court with an attached certificate of service deprived the trial court of subject-matter jurisdiction over the appeal.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Slater v. Ohio Dep't of Rehab. & Corr.
2018 Ohio 1475 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2018)
Dublin v. Beatley
2016 Ohio 5606 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2016)
Pennell v. Brown Twp.
2016 Ohio 2652 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2016)
Martin v. Cuyahoga Cty. Prosecutor
2015 Ohio 4589 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2015)
Lupo v. Columbus
2014 Ohio 2792 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2014)
John Roberts Mgt. Corp. v. Village of Obetz
2013 Ohio 5395 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013)
AT&T Communications of Ohio, Inc. v. Lynch
2012 Ohio 1975 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2012)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
935 N.E.2d 493, 188 Ohio App. 3d 362, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-roberts-management-co-v-village-of-obetz-ohioctapp-2010.