Appeals court upholds award for $1.3 million

As part of its $2.1 million gateway project, Westerville took a 0.205-acre piece of Taylor’s property through eminent domain in 2011 — after two years of fruitless negotiations to buy it — in order to install an entryway feature at the city’s southern entrance. A Franklin County judge approved the city’s taking of the land to bury utility lines and install decorative brick pillars, wrought-iron fencing and landscaping.

Westerville originally offered $145,855 for the slice of Taylor’s land at the southwest corner of State and Heatherdown Drive, which he owns and leases to US Bank. But he appealed the judge’s decision, arguing the project would severely damage the whole property’s value, by eliminating its visibility on State Street and a curb cut.

A Franklin County Court of Common Pleas jury agreed, with Taylor in 2013, awarding the $1.3 million.

And on Aug. 12, the Ohio 10th District Court of Appeals upheld the $1.3 million award to Taylor for the property and attorney fees, a decision that Taylor’s lawyer Bruce Ingram said was a long time coming.

“We weren’t surprised by the court of appeals decision at all,” Ingram said. “They relied upon 50 years of well-established law in determining that the city could not take Taylor’s driveway and his visibility of his frontage from him without paying a substantial price for that land that they were taking. We believe that the Supreme Court law over the last 50 years has been vindicated once again.”

To again attempt to avoid paying the substantial cost, Westerville would need to appeal to the Supreme Court.