Trending
LISBON -- A judge recently affirmed the denial of an annexation sought for a Highland Avenue East, Perry Township property into the city of Salem, agreeing the request didn't meet all the requirements.
Property owner Tamra Hettinga filed the appeal against commissioners in September 2024 to challenge their decision last year to deny the proposed annexation of .4044 acres of Highland Avenue East from Perry Township into the city of Salem.
Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bickerton issued her ruling Tuesday based on filings and the transcript of the public hearing related to the annexation request, ruling the decision by commissioners was reasonable.
"There is no doubt that (Hettinga's) rear property line is adjacent to the city of Salem. Being adjacent to the city is simply not enough. The subject property is surrounded by township property on all three other sides," Bickerton wrote.
She said permitting the annexation would create a peninsula into township property.
Bickerton also noted that commissioners determined that the general good of the territory would not be served and the benefits did not outweigh the detriments. She agreed.
"While Ohio law gives some deference to homeowners' choice in annexation, that choice is not absolute. Much of what the board considered in regard to (Ohio Revised Code) 709.033 (A)(5) was the potential for confusion of emergency services and utility services. If the board permitted annexation, (Hettinga's) home would be the only one in that neighborhood which would receive city services rather than township services. The board found the confusion was detrimental over and above any benefits annexation would provide," Bickerton wrote.
Late last year, she denied a motion by Hettinga's attorney for an oral hearing on the case, finding the resolution from commissioners satisfied the conclusions of fact and that the complete transcript from the public hearing was provided to the court.
The resolution commissioners approved to deny the annexation request said, "On balance, the general good of the territory proposed to be annexed will not be served, and the benefits to the territory proposed to be annexed and the surrounding area do not outweigh the detriments to the territory proposed to be annexed and the surrounding area, if the annexation petition were to be granted."
The resolution said the board of commissioners found the petition did not satisfy each of the requirements for annexation and "therefore, denies the annexation."
During the commissioners' meeting after the vote was taken against her petition, Hettinga spoke about what she had been through trying to build a one-story handicapped accessible home on the parcel adjacent to her current residence on Highland Avenue East. She was told she had to seek annexation into the city to get water and sewer to the new home because the property was contiguous to the city.
At the time, she claimed the decision by commissioners was based on faulty information, saying one complete side of the property is adjacent to the city on Pearce Circle and there's no footage requirement for an annexation. She said the majority of homes on Highland Avenue East are already contiguous to the city.
The judge's decision can be appealed.
Another appeal filed to challenge the denial of a proposed annexation on Beechwood Road in Perry Township into the city remains pending in Common Pleas Court, filed by the city of Salem.
Defendants named in the administrative appeal included the commissioners, Perry Township and the owners of the Beechwood Road property, Sean and Laurie Butcher, who said they filed the petition for annexation under duress after the city threatened to shut off their water and sewer service if they didn't seek annexation.