State ex rel. Village of Chagrin Falls v. Geauga County Board of Commissioners

775 N.E.2d 512, 96 Ohio St. 3d 400
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 2, 2002
DocketNo. 2001-2082
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 775 N.E.2d 512 (State ex rel. Village of Chagrin Falls v. Geauga County Board of Commissioners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Village of Chagrin Falls v. Geauga County Board of Commissioners, 775 N.E.2d 512, 96 Ohio St. 3d 400 (Ohio 2002).

Opinion

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} On July 22, 1998, appellant, village of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, filed a petition to annex 182.264 acres of land from Bainbridge Township, Ohio. On January 21, 1999, following a hearing, the Geauga County Board of Commissioners denied the village’s petition. The village did not appeal the board’s decision.

{¶ 2} On March 15, 2001, the village filed a second petition to annex the same property from Bainbridge Township. On August 23, 2001, the board denied the second petition based on res judicata. The board did not conduct a hearing under former R.C. 709.031(A)1 on the village’s second annexation petition.

[401]*401{¶ 3} On September 24, 2001, the village filed a complaint in the Court of Appeals for Geauga County for a writ of mandamus to compel the board to conduct a hearing on the village’s second annexation petition pursuant to former R.C. 709.031(A). The village did not allege in its petition that the board’s denial of a hearing on the second annexation petition contravened the Ohio Constitution. The village also did not move for the disqualification of any of the appellate court judges. On August 31, 2001, the village filed an administrative appeal in the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas from the board’s August 23, 2001 denial of the second annexation petition.

{¶ 4} On October 9, 2001, the court of appeals entered a judgment sua sponte dismissing the village’s complaint for a writ of mandamus. The court of appeals reasoned that the village had an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law by way of its R.C. Chapter 2506 appeal from the board’s denial of the second annexation petition.

{¶ 5} This cause is now before us upon the village’s appeal as of right. The Bainbridge Township Board of Trustees filed an amicus curiae brief urging affirmance of the court of appeals’ judgment.

{¶ 6} In its appeal as of right, the village asserts that the court of appeals erred in not granting its requested extraordinary relief in mandamus. R.C. 2731.05 provides that a “writ of mandamus must not be issued when there is a plain and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law.” See, also, State ex rel. Gaydosh v. Twinsburg (2001), 93 Ohio St.3d 576, 578, 757 N.E.2d 357. “In order for an alternative remedy to constitute an adequate remedy at law, it must be complete, beneficial, and speedy.” State ex rel. Natl. Elec. Contrs. Assn., Ohio Conference v. Ohio Bur. of Emp. Serv. (1998), 83 Ohio St.3d 179, 183, 699 N.E.2d 64.

{¶ 7} The village claims that an R.C. Chapter 2506 administrative appeal from the board’s decision denying its second annexation petition is inadequate because it is not complete, beneficial, and speedy. The village specifically asserts that its administrative appeal would not permit the common pleas court to remand the matter to the board and that the common pleas court’s potential consideration of additional evidence is inadequate.

{¶ 8} Under R.C. 2506.04, in an appeal from the board’s decision, the common pleas court “may affirm, reverse, vacate, or modify the order, adjudication, or decision, or remand the cause to the officer or body appealed from with instructions to enter an order, adjudication, or decision consistent with findings or opinion of the court.” In Superior Metal Products, Inc. v. Ohio Bur. of Emp. Serv. (1975), 41 Ohio St.2d 143, 146, 70 O.O.2d 263, 324 N.E.2d 179, we held that “a court’s remand effectuates a revival of jurisdiction over a cause which may enable the subordinate tribunal or administrative body to conduct further pro[402]*402ceedings and to render a new decision.” Although Superior Metal did not involve an R.C. Chapter 2506 appeal, appellate courts have applied it and held that common pleas courts have authority in R.C. Chapter 2506 administrative appeals to remand for further proceedings, including a new hearing. See, e.g., Neary v. Moraine Bd. of Zoning Appeals (July 30, 1999), 2d Dist. No. 17428, 1999 WL 960777; Hensel v. Lake Twp. Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 5th Dist. No. 2001-CA-00046, 2001-0hio-1377, 2001 WL 1131058; Perez v. Cleveland Bd. of Zoning Appeals (Jan. 13, 2000), 8th Dist. No. 75166, 2000 WL 23123; In re Rocky Point Plaza Corp. (1993), 86 Ohio App.3d 486, 496-497, 621 N.E.2d 566.

{¶ 9} Although some appellate cases have held otherwise, see, e.g., Zannieri v. Norwalk Bd. of Bldg. & Zoning Appeals (1995), 101 Ohio App.3d 737, 740, 656 N.E.2d 711, and Mad River Sportsman’s Club, Inc. v. Jefferson Twp. Bd. of Zoning Appeals (1993), 92 Ohio App.3d 273, 277, 634 N.E.2d 1046, we find that the cases applying Superior Metal are more persuasive.

{If 10} As the court of appeals in Neary cogently observed, the additional language in R.C. 2506.04 regarding remanding the cause with instructions to “enter an order, adjudication, or decision consistent with the findings or opinion of the court” does not prohibit the administrative tribunal or officer to which a cause is remanded from conducting further proceedings:

{¶ 11} “[W]e note that the statute at issue in Superior Metal [i.e., R.C. 4141.28(0) ] is more restrictive of the trial court’s power to remand than the statute applicable in Rocky Point Plaza and the present case [i.e., R.C. 2506.04] in that it does not expressly provide for remand to the agency, but instead limits the court’s authority to reversal, vacation, or modification of the agency’s decision. See R.C. 4141.28(0). In contrast, R.C. 2506.04 explicitly allows for remand from the trial court to the agency so long as the court also instructs the agency to enter a decision consistent with the court’s opinion. This power is bestowed upon the common pleas court in addition to the power to reverse and vacate or modify an administrative decision under the statute. For this reason, the common pleas court’s power to remand a case to the administrative agency should be read as being no more restricted, and perhaps even less restricted, under R.C. 2506.04 than it is under R.C. 4141.28(0). Moreover, the language of R.C. 2506.04 does not, in our view, require the common pleas court to dictate to the agency precisely what the decision pursuant to remand must be, nor does Superior Metal support that proposition. Once a court remands to the administrative agency, the agency’s jurisdiction over the matter is revived. Superior Metal, supra [41 Ohio St.2d] at 146 [70 O.O.2d 263, 324 N.E.2d 179]. That being so, the agency may conduct further proceedings and render a new decision.” Neary, 2d Dist. No. 17428, at 12-13.

[403]*403{¶ 12} Under Superior Metal and the foregoing appellate cases, common pleas courts are authorized under R.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
775 N.E.2d 512, 96 Ohio St. 3d 400, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-village-of-chagrin-falls-v-geauga-county-board-of-ohio-2002.