State ex rel. Ohio History Connection v. Moundbuilders Country Club Co.
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The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the decision of the trial court to grant Ohio History Connection's appropriation action seeking to appropriate the Moundbuilders Country Club Company's leasehold interest in the Octagon Earthworks in Newark, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below.
The History Connection, a state-funded entity, sought to acquire the country club's lease interest in the Octagon Earthworks in Newark by eminent domain so that it could establish a public park on the property and nominate it for the World Heritage list. The court of common pleas concluded that History Connection met the two statutory requirements of establishing that appropriation was necessary for a public use and that the offer was not made in bad faith and thus granted the petition to appropriate. The court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed and remanded the case for a jury trial, holding (1) the courts below painted an incomplete picture of the good-faith standard under Ohio Rev. Code 163.04(B), but the analyses of the courts below were ultimately consistent with Kalain v. Smith, 495 N.E.2d 572 (Ohio 1986); and (2) the country club's argument that the appropriation was not necessary was contrary to well-settled law.
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