LIMA — After losing a parcel of land containing a mobile home park to the City of Lima in June after an annexation hearing with the Allen County Board of Commissioners, the Bath Township Board of Trustees is taking county commissioners to court to try to get that land back.
The trustees filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Allen County Commissioners, the City of Lima, Maplewood MHC, RCCC Ltd., SEDC and W.C. Investments to reclaim the Walton Mobile Park on Leonard Avenue, as well as a separate portion of land near the former Christian Convention Center. Dan Campbell, the owner of the mobile home park, is the statutory agent for Maplewood, RCCC and W.C. Investments and had filed a petition to be annexed into the city, with Lima City Council approving the measure in May.
The trustees, along with their attorneys, Michael Rumer and Zachary Maisch, assert in the complaint that the commissioners failed to consider a provision in Ohio Revised Code in which “the benefits of the territory proposed to be annexed and the surrounding area will outweigh the detriments to the territory proposed to be annexed and the surrounding area.” During an annexation hearing earlier in June, Wanda Carter, an attorney for the trustees, said that the annexation involved two separate territories, combining two annexations into one. She also argued that moving into the city would create confusion as to which street portions would be under city or township jurisdiction.
“When you look at an annexation like this, you’re not looking at what would be for the good of the owner but rather the good of the territory,” she said during the meeting.
Other issues with the annexation included in the lawsuit are whether this would create an island of lots at the corner of Eureka Street and Alton Avenue separated from the rest of the township.
Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge David Cheney has been assigned to hear the lawsuit. No date has yet been set for an initial hearing.
Commissioner Cory Noonan declined to comment on the case, saying that it would be better to have legal counsel look into the matter before commenting. Neither Bath Township Trustees nor Lima Law Director Tony Geiger could be reached for comment.
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