In the case State ex rel. Delta Lookout, LLC v. City of Cincinnati, 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-170107, 2019-Ohio-5353, an Ohio appellate court held that ancillary municipal acts that improve private streets are not enough to convert private streets into public streets under the doctrine of public acceptance.
In this case, a business filed a petition for a writ of mandamus for a city to repair and maintain two streets within the city’s boundaries that the business alleged were public. The business argued that the two streets were public because (1) there was a statute that decreed them to be public and/or (2) they was a common law dedication.
The Ohio appellate court held that the two streets were not public streets requiring the city to repair and maintain them because, in fact, (1) there was no statute that decreed them to be public and/or (2) they was no common law dedication. The Ohio appellate court further held that, even though the city had made improvements to the two streets and renamed the streets, neither act was enough to constitute public acceptance.
To read this case, click here.
Authors: Matthew John Markling and the McGown & Markling Team.
Note: This blog entry does not constitute – nor does it contain – legal advice. Legal jurisprudence is like the always changing like the Midwestern weather. As a result, this single blog entry cannot substitute for consultation with a McGown & Markling attorney. If legal advice is needed with respect to a specific factual situation, please feel free to contact a McGown & Markling attorney.