Lisa Hlavinka | The Gazette
MEDINA — Westfield Township trustees and two property owners filed an injunction in Medina County Common Pleas Court on Thursday to temporarily stop the annexation of 103 acres of land to the Village of Seville.
Trustees and Rebecca and Denver Conley, property owners whose land lies within the acreage to be annexed, contend the petition is not valid because it misplaced a waiver that is supposed to be printed in bold-face capital letters above the place for signatures on the petition.
On the annexation petition signed by the Conleys, the waiver appears on the page before the signatures, violating rules laid out by the Ohio Revised Code, according to the injunction filing. The waiver states the signers are relinquishing their right to appeal any decision pertaining to the annexation.
The Conleys signed a petition in January to annex their Westfield Township property as part of an expedited Type 2 annexation. Their property and other land to be annexed totals 77 acres in Westfield Township and 26 in Guilford Township.
The annexation would allow Westfield and Guilford to continue to collect property tax, but Seville would collect a portion of the property tax and any income tax derived from the annexed land.
Westfield and Guilford trustees originally approved the annexation petition, but both townships later rescinded their approval.
Because the property lies on Federal Emergency Management Agency floodplains, Westfield Township Trustee Carolyn Sims said she feared developing the area could result in flooding.
Guilford trustees rescinded their approval on May 5, citing similar concerns.
“We had some concerns that increased water flow could flood part of Seville and township property,†Guilford Township Trustee Glenn Sheller said Friday night.
Still, he said rescinding approval was more symbolic, because there was little they could do to stop the annexation after approving it.
Thursday’s injunction was filed against Seville, whose Village Council has its final reading on the annexation scheduled for next month; other annexation petitioners: Creco Inc., Sugar Shack Real Estate Holdings Inc., Elizabeth House and Carl Espey, all property owners that are represented by attorney Stan Scheetz; and Medina County commissioners.
An expedited Type 2 annexation requires the land to share at least a 5 percent contiguous border with the municipality it is to be annexed to, and it must be less than 500 acres. If the petitioners meet those requirements, as they do in this case, commissioners are required to approve the annexation, unless counsel sees a legal issue with the petition, county Commissioner Steve Hambley said.
County Assistant Prosecutor Brian Richter found no legal issues with the petition, and commissioners approved it on Feb. 18.
A hearing on the injunction is scheduled for 8 a.m. Wednesday in Common Pleas Judge Christopher J. Collier’s court.
Contact Lisa Hlavinka at (330) 721-4048 or lhlavinka@ohio.net.
