Gahanna residents file lawsuit over 'secret' settlement with developer
Five years ago, when Academy Development filed plans for shops and businesses at the southwest corner of North Hamilton and Beecher roads in Gahanna, nearby residents objected.
Not all of the plans were in compliance with the city's zoning code and the variances they sought weren't appropriate for the five-acre site, said Jesse M. Kanitz, the attorney representing the residents in the 81-lot Academy Ridge Community Association.
In addition, the residents would lose most of a quiet wooded buffer from the noise and traffic of busy North Hamilton Road.
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So the residents appealed the decision of the city's Planning Commission approving the development plans.
Twice.
And in both cases, the city's Board of Zoning and Building Appeals agreed with residents that the planning commission had erred. Residents thought that was the end of it.
But Academy Development eventually filed an appeal in Franklin County Municipal Court. In addition, the developer also threatened to file a federal lawsuit against Gahanna, arguing that it had legal rights to develop land that it owned.
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Those actions, in turn, prompted what is being called a "secret settlement" written by Gahanna City Attorney Ray Mularski to "finally and unappealably" approve the development plans, overriding city protocols, the decisions of the city Board of Zoning Appelas, and residents' objections, according to a lawsuit filed by the neighborhood association against the city last month in in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
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"If you threaten a lawsuit against the city, their (Gahanna's) position is that the city attorney can settle it in any way he sees fit," Kanitz told The Dispatch. "We just think he's exceeded the authority of the city attorney and (negotiated a deal) behind closed doors.
"He's usurped the planning commission's authority and the mayor and city council. He's signed off on this," Kanitz said of Mularski.
The residents learned about the settlement when early last month pink ribbons were placed around towering trees in the proposed development, followed days later by "just bulldozers bulldozing lots of trees," Kanitz said.
Residents began asking the city for answers.
"One member of the association was told by a representative of Gahanna that the tree removal and other work was likely related to utility work," according to the Franklin County lawsuit.
Finally, on March 13, Mularski sent the homeowners association a copy of the settlement agreement, signed off on almost a year prior, allowing the work to continue.
The lawsuit by residents of Academy Ridge seeks an injunction to stop the work and uphold the ruling of the city's zoning appeals board.
Dan Pearlman, city spokesman, said that the settlement was a public record available since May 2022.
Since 1999, Academy Development made "multiple efforts" to develop the site, each being repeatedly denied by the zoning appeals board, Pearlman wrote in an email statement to The Dispatch.
As city attorney, Mularski "has full authority to prosecute and defend claims for and on behalf of the City, including the authority to unilaterally enter into non-financial settlements. The City is confident that the Court will ultimately find its actions to be lawful and appropriate. "
dnarciso@dispatch.com
@DeanNarciso
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Gahanna sued over development controversy involving settlement offer
