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Russell businessman faces 30 days in jail
(by Joan Demirjian - October 01, 2008)
Russell businessman faces 30 days in jail
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
For several years, Russell Township and Russell Automotive in Russell have wrestled over zoning issues in court.
Now, Assistant Geauga County Prosecutor Rebecca Schlag is asking the Geauga County Commons Pleas Court to issue an order for owner Thomas Sloe to report to the Geauga County Jail to serve a 30-day sentence. He has exhausted the appeals process, she said.
Russell Automotive is located at Music Street and Chillicothe Road (Route 306).
Over the years, the township zoning department has cited issues at the business. They have included outside storage of motor vehicles, sale of vehicles, parking less than 30 feet from the road right of way and conducting bodywork on the premises. The township has taken issue with the storage of items outside on the property.
Mr. Sloe has questioned the definition of storage of vehicles and bodywork.
There have been court rulings upholding the township's position, and the decisions have been appealed.
In 2007, Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge David Fuhry granted a stay of a 30-day sentence imposed in 2006 in his court, giving Mr. Sloe time to appeal to the 11th District Court of Appeals.
The appeals court subsequently upheld the common pleas court's findings that Mr. Sloe had failed to remove junk motor vehicles visible from and not screened from the road, for not delineating parking spaces and storing motor vehicles on the site.
After the appeals court upheld the common pleas court's finding, Mr. Sloe appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, which declined the appeal last month.
Ms. Schlag is asking on behalf of the township that the stay of sentencing now be released and that Mr. Sloe be ordered to start serving the 30-day jail sentence.
The auto business is in an area zoned for commercial services. The original owner was granted a conditional-use variance to operate as a service garage with conditions, according to township records. No vehicles could be sold or displayed outside, bodywork was prohibited, and no outside storage was allowed.
Mr. Sloe said this week that the stripes for the parking area are in place but added, "Even new businesses are not required to have them." He cited other businesses in the township without parking stripes. "I was found guilty of no stripes, and I have stripes. I put them in June 2006," he said.
"The definition of storage of vehicles was never determined by anyone," he said. The zoning department doesn't have a definition of storage of vehicles, Mr. Sloe said. "They won't define it. Yet I'm found guilty."
And he said he is not guilty of sale of vehicles.
"It is all political," Mr. Sloe said. "It's selected enforcement."
He said he is planning to meet with Russell Township Trustees.
"All this could have been done in 15 minutes," he said of working out the issues. "I just want to know what makes them happy, and how do I stay in business," he said. "I'm just trying to get answers."
Trustee Kristina Port said she has received mail from residents supporting Mr. Sloe.
She said she was advised by the prosecutor's office that it is not a township or zoning issue now. It is a court ruling, Ms. Port said.
However, rather than having him go to jail, she would rather look to a resolution of the issues, she said.
"If there is supportive documentation that he is in compliance, they could revisit this and try to stem the 30-day jail sentence," Ms. Port said. "If he doesn't comply, he has to do time. He has gone through the court system."
Still, she would rather see if they can talk through the issues, Ms. Port said. "We can hear his comments and see if anything has been done to comply." Otherwise, "the onus is on him to be in compliance with our zoning," she said.
"I want to have a meeting to discuss this, so there can be clarification, so there can be compliance going forward," Ms. Port said.
Ms. Schlag said it is not a zoning case. It is a court case, she said. "He has been ordered to go to jail."
He is doing too little, too late, she said. "He has the keys to his freedom in his own pocket. The more he complies, the better."
Mr. Sloe could show up before the judge to show compliance, Ms. Schlag said. "But it is completely at the court's discretion."
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