Time Is Running Out For Council

Time is running out for Council to appeal the Cleveland Hall decision rendered by Judge Jon Spahr on March 10, 2008. Judge Spahr ruled that Denison University’s modern additions to Cleveland Hall did not meet Granville’s ordinance that mandates only traditional architectural styles for the historic downtown district. If the Village wants to challenge the decision, an appeal must be filed within 30 days of the decision, or by Wednesday, April 9th.

Village Council’s last regularly scheduled meeting is this coming Wednesday, so its last chance to make a decision likely will be this Wednesday night. Council is holding a private executive session to discuss a potential appeal.

Some topics for discussion on Wednesday night should be how much an appeal will cost, whether there are cheaper means to accomplish the same thing, and whether the Village will be reimbursed for its legal costs. Council also must consider how likely it is that an appeal can be won.

[For more discussion, see: “Cleveland Hall: Why The Court Ruled The Way It Did ”]

So far, the Village has spent $17,390.55 in legal fees for the Cleveland Hall matter. When asked, Law Director Mike Crites refused to provide any prediction of how much an appeal would cost. “We have not explored that yet,” said the law director, but he also noted that he would have that information for Council on Wednesday night during its executive session. Legal costs for a typical appeal could run about $15,000, according to another attorney familiar with appellate work.

Council Member Matt McGowan said he will wait until Law Director Crites provides his advice before making a decision whether to appeal. McGowan said that, after the executive session, Council would vote to make no decision, would vote to appeal, or would vote not to appeal.

Two counsel members, Jackie O’Keefe and Melissa Hartfield, have consistently recused themselves from addressing the Cleveland Hall issue. Thus, the ultimate decision will come down to only five council members: Matt McGowan, Steve Mershon, Debbie Tegtmeyer, Lon Herman, and Connie Barsky.

Vice Mayor Lon Herman questions whether further legal costs should be spent on the Cleveland Hall matter. Instead of filing an appeal, Council could simply rewrite the ordinance to allow modern architecture in the historic district. However, before the Vice Mayor would consider changing the zoning code in this way, he said he would want “an open and substantial process with substantial input from the Granville community, not solely from Denison.” He continued, “If the Community wishes to see a zoning change, this is something that Council could consider.”

However, Matt McGowan, who normally is known for his conservative stance on budget expenditures, did not think changing the zoning ordinance was an option for him. “I think it would be a bad precedent for changing the rules. If we change the rules, what would the community think - that we changed the code just to please Denison?”

During his interview, however, McGowan raised an interesting issue. “You always have to see what the costs are going to be. I hope Denison will be the one, in my opinion, to write the check.”

When asked, Law Director Mike Crites refused to state whether he saw any problems with Denison University making payments to the Village for its legal costs. Denison University currently is an applicant for the zoning permit for Cleveland Hall, and Denison likely will have more applications in the future. Whether the Village could accept payments from current and future applicants, and whether that is a good idea, is an open question.