NFIB Wins Fight to Protect Property Rights in Ohio

Date: August 13, 2014

NFIB Wins Fight to Protect Property Rights in Ohio

For Immediate Release
Contact: Andy Patterson [email protected]
Kelly Hoffman (202) 314-2054 or [email protected]

NFIB Wins Fight to Protect Property Rights in Ohio

Columbus, OH, August 13, 2014 – Roger Geiger, Vice President, NFIB/Ohio Executive Director, released the following statement in response to the recent Court ruling in Westerville v. Taylor.  NFIB previously filed an amicus brief in the property rights case.

“For many small-business owners property is essential to their livelihood and the success of their business.  This is why a small business owner should have the right to just compensation when a city exercises eminent domain in order to take his or her property for landscaping and “so-called” beautification. Here at NFIB we are committed to ensuring that small business owners get a fair shake when they suffer a taking. Today’s verdict is a win for small businesses in Ohio. The outcome of this case will impact how property owners are compensated in eminent domain cases, which is an important issue of property rights for small business.”

In 2011, a judge ruled that the City of Westerville could exercise eminent domain to take commercial property owned by James Taylor. The taking was part of a beautification project. In addition to taking ownership of the parameter of Taylor’s property—including condemnation of a strip of land across one of the property’s existing access points, the City had taken easements, which would have allowed the City to control landscaping on Taylor’s remaining property.

While on appeal the City argued that the Court of Common Pleas erred in allowing a jury to award Taylor damages for lost access rights and lost visibility resulting from the taking. However, in its’ amicus brief NFIB’s Legal Center argues the lower court got it right. The taking will result in lost visibility to and from Taylor’s commercial property and this adversely affects the value of his remaining property. And in taking the strip of land across one of property’s existing access points, the City has taken valuable access rights. The NFIB Legal Center maintains that the Constitution requires full compensation for the resulting depreciation in value of his land.

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The NFIB Small Business Legal Center  is a 501(c)(3) organization created to protect the rights of America’s small business owners by providing advisory material on legal issues and by ensuring that the voice of small business is heard in the nation’s courts.

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