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Temporary stay lifted in Grenga building case
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Grenga
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A court order in another case still bars the city from destroying the property.
YOUNGSTOWN — Saying it lacks jurisdiction, the 7th District Court of Appeals has lifted its temporary stay of the city’s seizure and demolition of the Grenga Machine and Welding Co. storage facility.
“An owner does not have the right to immediately appeal a decision where the appropriation is taken for the purpose of making or repairing roads,” the appellate judges wrote. “Rather, the owner must wait until the compensation order has been issued.”
The judges decision, which was unanimous, was rendered shortly after a Wednesday hearing on the matter.
The judges, Joseph J. Vukovich, Cheryl L. Waite and Mary DeGenaro, were referring to the amount of Grenga’s compensation for his building, a matter on which Grenga has a right to a jury trial.
Grenga sought the stay, which the appeals court granted on a temporary basis Friday, when he appealed the writ of possession granted to the city by Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. The appellate panel also dismissed Grenga’s appeal.
Although the court of appeals lifted its stay, a temporary restraining order issued by Judge Lou A. D’Apolito, also of the county common pleas court, in a separate civil action Grenga filed concerning his property is still in effect.
Judge D’Apolito’s order, issued Jan. 26, enjoins the city “from destroying, or otherwise altering, the subject property pending further order of this court.” The property is at 128 W. Rayen Ave.
A hearing on a preliminary injunction in that case is set for 10 a.m. March 27 before Magistrate Daniel P. Dascenzo, who works with Judge D’Apolito.
In that $500,000 lawsuit, Grenga alleges the city and Youngstown State University violated his right to due process and caused him to suffer financial losses in the city’s effort to take his property.
The city seeks to seize and demolish Grenga’s building to enable a northward extension of Hazel Street in conjunction with YSU’s new $34.3 million business school, for which construction is scheduled to start March 24.
When the city filed its petition to take Grenga’s property by eminent domain in January 2008, it deposited $205,000 in escrow with the common pleas court.
Grenga rejected the city’s offer to buy his building for that amount. He bought the 102-year-old, 10,515-square-foot building for $95,800 in 2001.
milliken@vindy.com