Reply Merit Brief filed by co-plaintiff Homer S. Taft
In the final brief to the Ohio Supreme Court on behalf of property owners, co-plaintiff Homer Taft raises separate issues and makes persuasive argument against the State and Intervening defendants National Wildlife Federation and Ohio Environmental Council.
Taft’s first proposition regarding the boundary between private property and the public trust is:
The furthest landward boundary of the State of Ohio’s public trust interest in the waters of Lake Erie and the lands underlying those waters is the low water mark of Lake Erie when those lands were conveyed into private ownership, subject to natural long term changes which occur thereafter. Where those lands are prresently under water, the ownership of the soil beneath the waters is only affected where long term, imperceptible erosion is shown to reduce that grant by natural occurrence. The best evidence locating that boundary is usually contained in the conveyance documents to owners and the surveys and descriptions of the conveyance in the chain of title if a particular property.
Taft’s second proposition regarding interveners NWF/OEC:
“In an action of property owners against agencies of the State of Ohio respecting the boundary of submerged lands of Lake Erie with their littoral lands, membership organizations whose members claim a recreational right in the public lands may not properly intervene as defendants under Civ. R. 24 especially as a matter of right where they neither claim nor demonstrate any property interest of such organization or even a property right generally and collectively of its members, in the boundary issue which is the subject of the “main action”".
The entire brief is only 25 pages and is good reading. You can access it by clicking Taft Reply 4th Merit Brief
Second Round of Briefs are Filed by The State of Ohio – NWF/OEC – ODNR
These briefs, while all less voluminous than the initial briefs, said little more than those initially submitted to the Ohio Supreme Court. The State continues to assert State ownership landward of Lake Erie to the OHWM. The NWF/OEC continues its assertion of the more modern interpretation of the law to include walking along the dry beach. And ODNR focuses on filled land previously covered by the waters of Lake Erie. While these briefs are not as long, they still take some time to peruse. The links for the actual briefs are below. OLG does not have any other required briefs. However, co-plaintiff Homer S. Taft and perhaps L. Scot and Darla J. Duncan will file additional briefs. We still do not expect the Court to set a hearing date for oral arguments until 2011.
Tony Yankel and Richard Cordray on WCPN Radio
Listen to WCPN Sound of Ideas host Mike McIntyre interview OLG President Tony Yankel, Attorney General Richard Cordray, OLG Attorney James Lang, and Ohio Environmental Council Deputy Director Jack Shaner and discuss the current Ohio State and National Wildlife Federation/Ohio Environmental Council Appeal before the Supreme Court. The program was aired on Thursday September 23 from 9-10 AM at 90.3 FM.
Listen to the interview here:
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Ohio Lakefront Group Newsletter Online
Shoreline Views Newsletter
The Ohio Lakefront Group Newsletter is now available online. Click Shoreline Views to view the PDF.
State of Ohio AG, NWF/OEC, ODNR File Briefs with Ohio Supreme Court
Briefs were filed on Monday this week. We are withholding comment at this time. To read the briefs, click the following links.
State Supreme Court First Merit Brief (note this is in text format converted from the PDF which was too large to upload)
NWF and OEC Supreme Court Merit Brief
ODNR Supreme Court Merit brief
The full Case Documentation since inception is available by clicking the link. Complete Supreme Court Case Document History
OLG Briefs are not due until August. We will comment at that time!
Property Owners Triumph Over Eminent Domain Taking
After a 27-month battle with the $80-billion Texas Department of Transportation backed by the Spanish corporation Cintra-Zachary, with the strong support State of Texas’ Governor, Rick Perry, property owners won an injunction to stop the confiscation of their land. Texas has a unique statute that allows for local governments to join together creating a planning commission, which then allows them to invoke coordination with state agencies. Five towns and school districts combined representing approximately 6,500 people and their jurisdiction covered 30 square miles.
The five communities would have been destroyed by the creation of the I-35 Trans-Texas Corridor, a quarter-mile wide super transportation corridor. The corridor itself was to hold six passenger lanes for commuter travel, four truck lanes for long hauls, freight rail and high speed rail. The right-of-way that would be condemned for the project was a quarter-of-a-mile wide, taking 146 acres per mile from Americans. Fire stations would have been cut off from the communities they protect. School districts across the state would have to be redistricted. School buses would be adding hundreds of miles a day navigating around the limited access super highway. Residents would be forced to pay a toll to get to work. 500,000 private acres would be confiscated to accommodate not only the internationally funded highway system, but also to provide lease pads to gas, hotel and restaurant services. The people impacted in these small rural communities would suffer all the economic and social damage for this international project.
No one could stop the Trans-Texas Corridor. It had the aggressive backing of Governor Rick Perry, the full support of the Texas Department of Transportation (the largest state agency in the nation), and was internationally backed by Cintra-Zachary. This $80 billion project was on a fast pace to connect the Chinese owned Mexican seaports with Canada, that is, until these five courageous towns and their school districts invoked coordination and took a stand equal in spirit to the Alamo, but with a much better result — Texans won.
The cities are now working to make this injunction permanent so that this debacle canot be revived at a later time. To read the full case story, click the link: Full Case Study
U.S. Supreme Court Decision Hurts Florida— Helps Ohio Property Owners
Press Release from OLG President Tony Yankel
Sheffield Lake (OH) – On June 17, 2010 the U.S. Supreme court in an 8-0 ruling, took another bite out of the constitution and property rights. Environmental activists mistakenly believe that the U.S. Supreme Court decision will set a new direction for property rights in Ohio. But they are wrong.
Although the “Stop the Beach Re-nourishment” case was a blow to private property owners in Florida, the decision made some very strong and fundamental points. Of prime importance, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision makes it clear that state law defines property rights and not federal law. Read more
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What is your private property worth? A small investment now in OLG membership can help us fight the State’s taking of the same property on which you pay taxes.