Avon School Board OKs Eminent Domain Push for Land
Board OKs eminent domain use
Avon — For Mary Jane Wolf, the issue is clear: She doesn’t want to sell land that has been in her family for generations.
“I enjoy the peace and quiet here,” said Wolf, 57. “It’s just such a beautiful, quiet place.”
Last week, after more than a decade of trying to persuade her to sell, the Avon school board voted 3-2 to allow the district to begin eminent domain proceedings against her. The move could force Wolf to sell 25 of her roughly 30 acres. She could remain in her home.
Board President Dale Smitek — who voted in favor of using eminent domain — said he sympathizes with Wolf but has to do what’s best for students and taxpayers in the long run.
“This was not a spur-of-the-moment thing nor was it an easy decision,” he said.
The current middle school, which used to be a high school building, was built in the mid-1950s and architects concluded a renovation and addition would not make economic sense, Smitek said.
It’s rare for a school district to use its powers of eminent domain, according to Scott Ebright, a spokesman for the Ohio School Boards Association. In fact, Smitek said, the Avon district has never used eminent domain to obtain land.
District officials threatened to use the option to get property where the current middle school is located — land owned at the time by Smitek’s grandparents. They wound up deciding to sell, he said.
If the Wolf issue ends up in court, it will most likely hinge on whether the district’s plans for the land meet the criteria of being a “public necessity.”
But Avon school officials view her property differently. The district envisions a new middle school on Wolf’s land.
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The Plain Dealer February 27, 2008
Jennifer González and Edith Starzyk, Plain Dealer Reporters