Business owner says bike path creating a nuisance

A Findlay business owner, who says the bike path through Swale Park is creating a nuisance for his property, is asking the city to vacate Bolton Street. James N. Bowser, of 331 Clinton St., is seeking the street vacation. Bowser is the owner of Performance R&D LLC, located at 750 Bolton St. The same bike path is at the center of a two-year land dispute between the Hancock County Board of Commissioners and Bowser. Findlay City Council will hear the first reading of the ordinance at its regular meeting today. Council will meet at 7 p.m. today in the municipal building, 318 Dorney Plaza. The meeting is open to the public and will be live-streamed on the city's YouTube channel: Findlay Ohio. On Thursday, Bowser told both the Findlay City Planning Commission and council's Planning and Zoning Committee that the city has created a nuisance for his business property by rerouting the bike path through Swale Park towards Bolton Street, where it now dead ends near his business. He said Bolton Street is used more by the public and there's more activity at the end of the street, where Swale Park can now be accessed. In the past, he said Bolton Street would dead end into an overgrown, swampy area, and was seldom used. He said he now has trouble with trespassers and vandals. The Hancock Regional Planning Commission recommended to both committees that the petition be denied. Commission Director Matt Cordonnier said a large, 16-inch city waterline runs up the middle of Bolton Street and there is a sanitary sewer in the city's right-of-way. He said it would take a 40-foot city easement to provide access to both lines. The street also serves as an access point for Swale Park, Cordonnier said. The Planning Commission voted against a recommendation on Thursday, but council's Planning and Zoning Committee voted 3-2 to recommend vacating the street, with a city easement. Council committee members Holly Frische, R-1, Dennis Hellmann, R-2, Brian Bauman, R-5, voted in favor of the street vacation. Councilmen James Slough, R-4, and Grant Russel, R-at-large, were opposed. Russel is chairman of the committee. If vacated, the Bolton Street property would be split in half and the property will go to the adjoining property owners, including Performance R&D. The city's goal is to eventually reconnect the bike path as it heads towards Broad Avenue from Swale Park, 215 Defiance Ave. A large section of the path, beginning at Bolton Street, is now missing, excavated as part of the river benching project. The commissioners filed an eminent domain action in Hancock County Common Pleas Court in May 2021, asking the court to force the sale of about 1.3 acres of a 2.9-acre parcel on Howard Street. That parcel is owned by Performance R&D. The eminent domain action marks the first filed in Hancock County due to flood mitigation. The trial date has been set for 8:30 a.m. June 26, 2023, in Hancock County Common Pleas Court, with Judge Jonathan P. Starn presiding. The authority of eminent domain allows government entities to seize private property for public use, but requires that fair market value be paid for the property. In the court filing, the commissioners argue the land is needed for restraining barriers and the relocation of a bike path. It states that both are needed for public safety, and all the work is meant to "reduce the effects of potential flooding for public use and benefit." The commissioners have offered Performance R&D $6,000 for the property based on an appraisal, ordered by their office, that set the amount as fair market value for the 1.3 acres. The Hancock County Auditor's Office sets the value of the entire 2.9-acre parcel at $18,120. In November, Performance R&D filed an answer to the lawsuit, stating that the property in question is "far away from the Blanchard River and the sole purpose of the appropriation is to construct a multi-use bike path," which the company argues is not necessary. The company also says the sale will lower the value of the remaining parcel, and that the board of commissioners violated its land rights by trespassing "with heavy equipment for the purpose of removing trees and brush to clear a wide path to allow the public to cross its land, without permission or privilege, and is continuing the trespass, all to Performance's damage." Performance R&D is asking the court to dismiss the commissioners' petition, and if not, to award the company payment for the partial parcel, compensation for the lost value of the residual property, and the cost of attorney and appraisal fees. Property already owned by the city and the county flanks the Performance R&D lot both up and down the river. The $6.1 million flood mitigation project widened the river by cutting "benches" into the north riverbank for about 3,500 feet between the Norfolk Southern Railroad bridge and Broad Avenue. The benches are meant to increase the river's capacity during floods. The commissioners filed two additional eminent domain actions in March of this year against a family trust holding property on Meeks Court, Findlay, located at 201 Meeks Court with an adjacent lot, and 206 Meeks Court. The property is owned by Thomas A. Miller, trustee of the Miller Family Trust, 8155 Liberty Township Road 89. The commissioners have offered Miller a total of $74,000 for all three parcels.