Fed. Dist, Court of OH Grants Summary Judgement to Township in Equal Protection and Takings Claims Related to Annexation and Zoning Dispute

This post was authored by Matthew Loescher, Esq.

Plaintiff Oberer Land Developers, LTD served as developer of the Dille/Cornerstone project that resulted in years of litigation between the City of Centerville and Defendant Sugarcreek Township, Ohio regarding whether a municipality could annex land from a township. In this case, Oberer alleged that members of Defendant Sugarcreek Township, Ohio Board of Trustees resented Oberer for its role in the previous annexation dispute, and the Board of Trustees allowed that ill-will to influence its decision to deny Oberer’s more recent application to rezone certain parcels of land located in Sugarcreek.

At the outset, the court found that Plaintiffs failed to carry their “heavy burden” to prove a class-of-one claim. In support of this claim, Plaintiffs attempted to draw a comparison between Rammel Farm and two other Oberer developments — Black Farm and Woodland Ridge — whose zoning applications were approved by the Board of Trustees. Beyond the fact that all three properties were regulated by the LRLUP, however, Plaintiffs failed to demonstrate through affidavits, deposition testimony, or otherwise how these properties were materially similar.

The court also noted that, rather than alleging a per se taking, Plaintiffs attempted to present a triable regulatory taking claim. The record reflected that two trustees had stated, while explaining why they voted down the zoning application, that they were open to revisiting the proposal if Oberer better explained how it planned to satisfy the open space requirement. The court found that had Plaintiffs done as the trustees had instructed, their application may have been approved. Moreover, notwithstanding their application, Plaintiffs could have sold the undeveloped land to another developer willing to meet the BZC and Board of Trustees’ requirements.

As a final matter, Plaintiffs contended that, under Ohio statutory law, neither Sugarcreek, as a township, nor its administrator, in his capacity as a township representative, had the power to enter a non-annexation agreement. As Plaintiffs federal claims were dismissed by summary judgement, the court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over this claim.

Oberer Land Developers, LTD v Sugarcreek Township, 2021 WL 3883922 (SD OH 8/31/2021)