The Ohio Ninth District Court of Appeals reversed a decision on a $1.8 million valuation of the Grey Hawk Golf Course in LaGrange by the Lorain County Board of Revision, arguing Lorain County Common Pleas Court incorrectly denied a motion to submit a full property appraisal into the record.
The decision released July 19 in favor of Durham Ridge Investments LLC, sends the case back to Common Pleas Court.
Durham Ridge owns several parcels which make up the golf course.
In 2010, the Lorain County Auditor’s Office set the combined value at $4,658,000.
Durham Ridge contested the valuation, arguing the parcels were worth $1.8 million based on a separate appraisal completed in April 2010.
Upon submitting a copy of the $1.8 million appraisal, the Board of Revision did not adjust the valuation, concluding the auditor’s value was fair and equitable, according to the decision.
An appeal to Common Pleas Court affirmed the $4.6 million valuation, ruling Durham Ridge did not provide “competent and credible” evidence to support a decrease in the value of the parcels.
In a hearing before the Board of Revision, Durham Ridge managing member Donald Keehan indicated a full appraisal could be submitted, but the record transmitted to Common Pleas Court did not contain a copy of the appraisal.
Common Pleas Court subsequently ruled Durham Ridge had “offered several pages of an appraisal” and the appraisal “was not offered into evidence in its entirety at the hearing.”
The court also ruled Durham Ridge had failed to authenticate the appraisal.
“The trial court’s findings about what was submitted at the hearing are not supported by the record,” Appeals Court Judge Jennifer Hensal wrote. “There is no indication in the transcript that Mr. Keehan offered only several pages of the appraisal as opposed to the entire document.
“Mr. Keehan repeatedly stated at the hearing that he had the ‘full appraisal’ and never indicated that he had, or was offering only part of it.”
The Ninth District declined to rule on a second assignment of error arguing Common Pleas Court erred in refusing to hold an evidentiary hearing stating the issue was moot.
A third assignment of error arguing Common Pleas Court’s affirmation the Board of Revision’s valuation was premature.
Hensal was joined by Judges Thomas Teodisio and Lynne Callahan in concurring opinions in the 3-0 decision by the court.
Representatives from the Lorain County Auditor’s Office were not immediately available for comment.
