Widow resists eviction order

Must leave by 4 p.m. today or face fine
Cincinnati Enquirer
May. 06, 2006

Frustrated by an 80-year-old widow's refusal to leave her house after the city took it by eminent domain, the city of Cincinnati has gotten a court order against Emma Dimasi: Be out by 4 p.m. today or pay a fine of $1,000 a day.

The order brings the five-month eminent domain battle to a climax today, as Dimasi seeks an emergency stay of the order at the Ohio First District Court of Appeals.

Dimasi's son and lawyer, Vincent A. Dimasi, said he has moving trucks on standby to move his mother out of the house she's occupied since 1959.

"We're prepared to do that if necessary, but I think she has a right to have her appeal heard. Any citizen has that right," he said.

Dimasi has argued that the city is taking more property than it needs for the Dixmyth Avenue road project, and that the taking is barred by the state's one-year moratorium on the use of eminent domain for economic development. The project, he said, is really being done for the expansion of Good Samaritan Hospital.

The governor signed the moratorium following a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing economic development takings - like those used by Norwood. The law gives the Ohio Supreme Court and lawmakers time to work out state constitutional and procedural questions.

One of those issues is the right to appeal. Under Ohio law, an owner can't appeal an order allowing eminent domain until after a jury has determined the property's value. In a "quick-take" road case, the house may be torn down by then - which is why Dimasi is asking for a stay.

The city asked Judge Melba D. Marsh to intervene after the Dimasis ignored the May 1 deadline for Mrs. Dimasi to leave. The city has been unable to conduct environmental testing of the site, and the delay is holding up the demolition contractor. If the project gets behind, the city might have to pay damages to its contractors.

The Dimasis say they were trying to work out a deal to extend the deadline but that the city ignored their proposals.