Vorys Partner Quoted in This Week: Westerville Story Titled “Jury Goes Against Westerville in State Street Case”

Bruce Ingram, a partner in the Vorys Columbus office, was quoted in a This Week: Westerville story about a $1.3 million verdict awarded to a property owner by a Franklin County Common Pleas Court jury. Ingram and Vorys attorneys Joseph Miller and John Kuhl represented the property owner in the trial, which was over the City of Westerville’s use of eminent domain to take the property.

The story states:

“The property, owned by James Taylor and leased to the bank, sits at the corner of Heatherdown Drive and State Street and was slated for an ornamental brick fence.

Taylor appealed the 2011 decision, with his lawyers arguing that eminent domain could not be used for aesthetic enhancements, that the ornamental fence would block visibility and the closing of a curb cut restrict access to his property, ultimately harming business.

‘(Taylor) challenged the city's right to take his property for landscaping and beautification,’ said his attorney, Bruce Ingram. ‘The visibility of the property would be virtually destroyed from State and Heatherdown.’

It was determined that the decision had to go to jury trial before it could go through the appeals process, Ingram said. That trial ended Thursday, May 9, with the $1.3 million finding in Taylor's favor.”

To read the entire story, visit the This Week: Westerville website.