State Ex Rel. Pitz v. City of Columbus

564 N.E.2d 1081, 56 Ohio App. 3d 37, 1988 Ohio App. LEXIS 4756
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 22, 1988
Docket87AP-1225
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 564 N.E.2d 1081 (State Ex Rel. Pitz v. City of Columbus) 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
State Ex Rel. Pitz v. City of Columbus, 564 N.E.2d 1081, 56 Ohio App. 3d 37, 1988 Ohio App. LEXIS 4756 (Ohio Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

Whiteside, P.J.

Plaintiff, Fred Pitz, appeals from a judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas and raises six assignments of error as follows:

“1. The trial court erred in refusing to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law with respect to plaintiff’s first cause of action as requested by the plaintiff-appellant.

‘ ‘2. The trial court erred in failing to grant the writ of mandamus prayed for by the plaintiff-appellant in the first count of his amended complaint requiring the defendant-appellee to *38 issue the building permit applied for in 1985.

“3. The trial court erred in failing to find, as a matter of law, that the property of the plaintiff-appellant had been taken by the defendant-appellee, and that the plaintiff-appellant was entitled to compensation therefor.

“4. The trial court’s decision was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

“5. The trial court erred as a matter of law in finding that the defendant-appellee was without authority to alter the floodway map or to grant the plaintiff-appellant a variance from the restrictions of Chapter 3385. of the Columbus City Code.

“6. The trial court erred in failing to find as a matter of law that the defendant-appellee’s denial of all use of the plaintiff-appellant’s property was a denial of the civil rights of the plaintiff-appellant pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Section 1983.”

Plaintiff owns property located at the northwest corner of East Main Street and Noe-Bixby Road, with the Big Walnut Creek lying just to the west of that properly. In 1969 and 1970, work was performed at that intersection in connection with a highway improvement which resulted in fill being added to plaintiff’s property. The parties stipulate this fill caused a change in the elevation of the property-

In 1985, plaintiff sought a building permit from the city of Columbus which was denied because the city felt that any building on the site would violate the zoning code then in effect. Specifically, Sections 3385.07 and 3385.08 of the Columbus City Code relate to flood plain zoning and prohibit building any structure within a designated flood plain area.

The parties to this action in a joint stipulation of fact filed with the trial court stipulated in paragraph seven that “[t]he 1977 code as amended in 1984 did not and does not take into account the fact that the Pitz property had been significantly altered by the fill from the 1969-1970 highway construction project.” In paragraph nine of that same document, the parties stipulated that:

“At the time of application for the building permit, the floodway map adopted by the City delineated the floodway at and around the Pitz property at the elevation of 7641/2 feet and below. All portions of the Pitz property sought to be built upon by the plaintiff exceed the elevation of 766 feet.”

Thus, the floodway for the Big Walnut Creek was at an elevation of 764.5 feet, while all of this time plaintiff’s property was at an elevation of 766 feet.

After the city building inspector denied plaintiff a building permit, plaintiff appealed that decision to the State Board of Building , Appeals (“BBA”). Based upon a survey by a registered surveyor, showing the proposed building elevation site to be beyond the limits of the Big Walnut Creek flood plain elevation of 764.5 feet, the BBA ordered the city to issue either a building permit or an adjudication order based solely on the Ohio Basic Building Code. No appeal and no action was taken by the city within the thirty-day period specified by the BBA. Plaintiff then filed this action in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. In count one, plaintiff requested the court to issue a writ of mandamus ordering the city to comply with the BBA’s decision. Count two was a request for compensation based upon an alleged taking under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The case was tried before the court without a jury. In its findings of fact and conclusions of law, the court held *39 there had been no taking of plaintiffs property, and thus, no compensation was required. Not until plaintiff filed a motion for findings of fact and conclusions of law relating to the writ of mandamus did the trial court address that issue. In the decision and entry dated November 23, 1987, the court stated that plaintiff’s motion was moot. The trial court granted a writ of mandamus pursuant to an 1987 application made by plaintiff and ordered that a building permit be issued pursuant to the 1987 application, essentially allowing plaintiff to complete an addition to the building sought to be built by the 1985 application. However, the trial court did not order a permit issued upon the 1985 application which was the subject of the BBA order.

At the outset, it should be noted that the parties have stipulated that neither party appealed the BBA decision, which ordered the city either to grant the building permit or to issue an order based upon the Ohio Basic Building Code. In addition, the city failed to comply with that order.

In the first assignment of error, plaintiff contends that the trial court erred because it refused to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law with respect to plaintiff’s requested writ of mandamus. The trial court issued findings of fact and conclusions of law which related to plaintiff’s claim for compensation based upon a taking. While it is true that this order did not specifically address the writ of mandamus requested by plaintiff, it did state in paragraph seven of the findings of fact that: “* * * Chapter 3385 of the Columbus City Code * * * controls development of land in the flood plain areas and generally prohibits construction therein.” The court also stated that the flood plain maps could not be changed by the city of Columbus.

Civ. R. 52 provides that a trial court shall issue findings of fact and conclusions of law when requested by one of the parties. The rule further provides that “[a]n opinion or memorandum of decision * * * containing findings of fact and conclusions of law stated separately shall be sufficient * * *.”

The court made findings of fact and conclusions of law even though they were not as clear as they should have been. By these findings and from the record, it is apparent that the trial court denied the building permit based upon a finding that the floodway map indicated plaintiff’s property was within the flood plain. Even though the trial court’s findings may be erroneous, there was sufficient compliance with Civ. R. 52. Accordingly, the first assignment of error is not well-taken.

In the second assignment of error, plaintiff contends that the trial court erred by denying the writ of mandamus requiring the city to issue the building permit applied for in 1985. That permit was denied by the city because “[the] project is in the Big Walnut Creek floodway area.” Plaintiff then appealed that order to the BBA, which ordered the city to either issue a permit or an adjudication order based solely upon the Ohio Basic Building Code. The city did not comply with the BBA order nor did it appeal that decision.

The first issue is whether the BBA had jurisdiction to render its order. R.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
564 N.E.2d 1081, 56 Ohio App. 3d 37, 1988 Ohio App. LEXIS 4756, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-pitz-v-city-of-columbus-ohioctapp-1988.