Williamson v. Scioto Twp. Trustees

2017 Ohio 1099
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided March 21, 2017·No. 16CA5·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT PICKAWAY COUNTY

MONTY R. WILLIAMSON, :

: Case No. 16CA5

Plaintiff-Appellant/Cross- :

Appellee, :

:

vs. : DECISION AND JUDGMENT : ENTRY

SCIOTO TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES, : ET AL., :

:

Defendants-Appellees/Cross- :

Appellants. : Released: 03/21/17

APPEARANCES:

James R. Kingsley, Circleville, Ohio, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

Edward J. Dowd and Kevin A. Lantz, Surdyk, Dowd & Turner Co., L.P.A., Dayton, Ohio, for Appellees/Cross-Appellants.

McFarland, J.

{¶1} Appellant/Cross-Appellee Monty Williamson appeals from the trial court’s decision granting summary judgment in favor of Appellees/Cross-Appellants, Scioto Township Trustees, et al. On appeal, Appellant contends that 1) the trial court committed prejudicial error when it granted Appellees summary judgment finding governmental immunity barred the claims of trespass and nuisance; and 2) the trial court committed prejudicial error when it denied mandamus to force inverse condemnation.

Scioto Township Trustees, et al. have also filed a cross-appeal in this matter, raising two assignments of error, contending that 1) the trial court erred to their prejudice when it denied their motion for summary judgment on the inverse condemnation claim because the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction; and 2) the trial court erred to their prejudice when it denied their motion for summary judgment on the issue of whether Cross-Appellee’s state law claims were time-barred.

{¶2} Because we have concluded that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over Appellant’s claims, which were barred by the statute of limitations, the trial court erred in denying Appellees’ motion to dismiss. Further, because it lacked jurisdiction of the claims, the trial court's orders granting summary judgment in favor of Appellees on the trespass and nuisance claims, and rendering judgment in favor of Appellees on the inverse condemnation claim, are both void. Accordingly, the trial court's judgment denying Appellees' motion to dismiss is reversed and the judgments on the trespass, nuisance and inverse condemnation claims are hereby vacated.

FACTS

{¶3} A review of the record reflects that Appellant/Cross-Appellee (hereinafter “Williamson”) initially filed a lawsuit, which included claims

for trespass, nuisance, inverse condemnation and punitive damages, against Appellees/Cross-Appellants, Scioto Township, Michael Struckman and Terry Brill (hereinafter “Township”) on October 25, 2010. The claims stemmed from events related to the installation of a driveway culvert by the Township on Williamson’s property, which allegedly caused eventual flooding and water damage to Williamson’s property and an outbuilding he owns. Without going into details which are not pertinent to this appeal, the installation of the driveway culvert was performed by the Township at the request of a contractor, who Williamson allegedly met with but did not actually hire to construct a new residence on the property.

{¶4} That action was dismissed by the trial court for failure to abide by the court’s scheduling orders on August 30, 2011. Williamson refiled the action on August 9, 2012, asserting the same claims against the same parties. Then, on June 18, 2013, Williamson filed an amended complaint that included the original claims and added new claims for negligent permit process, unconstitutional culvert policy, ratification, abuse of office, and willful destruction of evidence.

{¶5} The Township removed the case to federal court on July 15, 2013 and a notice of removal was filed in the state trial court on July 16, 2013. The federal court thereafter issued an opinion and order on September

5, 2014, granting summary judgment to the Township on the unconstitutional culvert policy, ratification and abuse of office claims, noting that the claim for inverse condemnation appeared to have been abandoned, and dismissing without prejudice Williamson’s remaining state law claims. The federal court did not remand the matter to the state trial court. Thereafter, on June 11, 2015, Williamson filed a “Motion To Reinstate Case On Active Docket,” which the trial court granted on June 12, 2015.

{¶6} In response, the Township filed a motion for summary judgment on the remaining state law claims, followed by a motion to dismiss based upon lack of subject matter jurisdiction. While the trial court denied the Township’s motion to dismiss, it granted its motion for summary judgment on all claims except the claim for inverse condemnation. Then, after holding a bench trial on the inverse condemnation claim, the trial court ruled in favor of the Township. It is from these orders that the parties now appeal, assigning the following errors for our review.

APPELLANT’S ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

“I. THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED PREJUDICIAL ERROR WHEN IT GRANTED DEFENDANT SUMMARY JUDGMENT FINDING GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY BARRED THE CLAIMS OF TRESPASS AND NUISANCE.

II. THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED PREJUDICIAL ERROR WHEN IT DENIED MANDAMUS TO FORCE INVERSE CONDEMNATION.”

CROSS-APPELLANTS’ ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

“I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF CROSS-

APPELLANTS WHEN IT DENIED THEIR MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON CROSS-APPELLEE’S INVERSE CONDEMNATION CLAIM BECAUSE THE COURT LACKED SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION.

II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF CROSS-

APPELLANTS WHEN IT DENIED THEIR MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE ISSUE OF WHETHER CROSS-

APPELLEE’S STATE-LAW CLAIMS WERE TIME-BARRED.”

LEGAL ANALYSIS

{¶7} We initially note that although Williamson has filed an appeal and set forth assignments of error based upon the merits of this case, the Township has also filed a cross-appeal pursuant to App.R. 3(C)(1), which provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

“(C)(1) Cross Appeal Required. A person who intends to defend a judgment or order against an appeal taken by an appellant and who also seeks to change the judgment or order or, in the event the judgment or order may be reversed or modified, an interlocutory ruling merged into the judgment or order, shall file a notice of cross appeal within the time allowed by App.R. 4.”

In their Appellee brief, the Township states that they have filed a cross appeal “in the event the judgment * * * is reversed or modified, [to receive] an interlocutory ruling merged into the judgment or order * * *.”

{¶8} Such a cross appeal has been considered to be a conditional cross appeal. General Medicine, P.C. v. Manolache, M.D., 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 94861, 2011-Ohio-340, ¶ 31 (“While unusual, such a conditional request is not without precedent and is allowed by App.R. 3(C)). In Manolache, the court decided it was unnecessary to reach the assignment of error raised in the cross appeal as it affirmed the trial court’s order in its entirety. Id; see also Cummings v. B.F. Goodrich Co., 86 Ohio App.3d 176, 188, 620 N.E.2d 209 (4th Dist.1993). Here, however, because the arguments raised by the Township in their cross appeal relate to the trial court’s jurisdiction of this matter, and because we conclude that the resolution of these arguments is dispositive of the matter on appeal, we address them first.

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Williamson v. Scioto Twp. Trustees, 2017 Ohio 1099 (Ohio Ct. App. 2017).

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