The status of two Athens residents' lawsuit contesting the city's plan for a proposed retirement center remained undecided after a Friday hearing.
Following more than four hours of testimony from real estate appraisers, experts and plaintiff Christine Fahl, Athens County Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Ward gave both sides two weeks to file additional memoranda.
Fahl and Patricia Rae Stokes had filed a lawsuit against the city with several other Athens residents, claiming the city's ordinances ' which essentially paved the way for National Church Residences to build a retirement facility off Stimson Avenue ' would negatively affect the plaintiffs' property values.
The projected site by the Columbus-based developer would occupy a now-vacant green space owned by Ohio University, which would lease the property to the developer.
Ward ruled in mid-April that only Fahl and Stokes had legal standing to continue the litigation, though only on the effects of traffic and flood risks on the two residents' Morris Avenue homes.
Friday's hearing was scheduled to decide their legal standing and though no decision was reached, city Law Director Garry Hunter spent most of the hearing undermining the strength of the residents' argument.
Josh Reinicke, a certified flood plain manager and licensed professional engineer from EMH&T, a Columbus civil engineers' group, testified that neither 35 Morris Ave. nor 67 Morris Ave. would be negatively affected by the construction. Neither property is within the Army Corps of Engineers' 100-year flood line, an area with a yearly 1 percent chance for flooding.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency requires property owners within those areas to purchase flood insurance. The northern part of the 67 Morris Ave. property is within the 500-year flood line, which represents an annual .2 percent chance for flood, according to FEMA reports.
Stokes and Fahl contended that the construction will decrease the land's ability to absorb water and the risk of flooding from the Hocking River will increase.
The engineer testified that the effect of the NCR site is negligible when compared with the hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of river flow upstream.
The projected flooding levels would rise vertically, he added, though (the 100-year flood line) would not extend horizontally.
Hunter also called Robert Weiler, an appraiser and consultant, to testify about the traffic problems that could arise as a result of construction. He said the retirement facility would have between a neutral and a positive effect, if it's in the general area and not next to the residences.
It's close
but not too close he said, adding the only exit from the site onto Morris Avenue would be a gated emergency exit, with the main entrance extending from Stimson Avenue. When the plaintiffs suggested that traffic would still increase, Weiler said such a conclusion was illogical.
The plaintiffs' arguments strayed onto the issue of green space use and whether the open land is considered publicly-owned because it is publicly-used, to which Hunter, along with lawyers representing OU and NCR, objected. Ward agreed and the plaintiffs rested their case.
Hunter said if the court ruled in favor of the city, (the plaintiffs) have a right to appeal but he hoped this would be the last legal hurdle for the center.
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Justin Thompson
