ELR Citation: ELR 20375
No(s). 803259 (Ohio Ct. C.P. P. Div. Jan 21, 1974)

In consolidated cases, the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. (CEI) is prohibited from acquiring an easement over a privately owned tract of land for the purpose of building a power line and enjoined from constructing the power line across the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The Court of Common Pleas Probate Division holds that CEI's right to construct a power line when needed is limited to those cases not unreasonably affecting the general welfare, a concept which includes aesthetic considerations and the preservation of existing park areas as havens for the city dwellers who use them. To put the ecological issues in the perspective of the general welfare requires an evaluation of the proposed action's long-term consequences, which in this case would include the destruction of the park. Where a corporation is a monopoly, it has a higher responsibility to use its discretion to consider all possible alternative routes, and failure to do so indicates an abuse of discretion when the choice made results in the destruction of a natural resource.

Attorney for National Engineering & Contracting Co.
John K. Sullivan, Esq.
1800 East Ohio Gas Building
Cleveland, OH 44114

Attorney for City of Independence
Stephen M. O'Bryan, Esq.
Kelley, McCann & Livingstone
1519 National City Bank Building
Cleveland, OH 44114

Attorneys for County Treasurers and Auditor
John T. Corrigan, Prosecuting Attorney
Fred F. Hilow, Ass't Prosecuting Attorney
Criminal Courts Building
1560 East 21st Street
Cleveland, OH 44114

Attorney for City of Brecksville
Earl T. Longley, Esq.
539 Leader Building
Cleveland, OH 44114

Attorneys for Department of Natural Resources
William J. Brown, Attorney General
John T. Davidson, Ass't Attorney General
Larry R. Zingarelli, Ass't Attorney General
Richard A. Frye, Ass't Attorney General
1930 Belcher Drive, Building No. 2
Fountain Square
Columbus, OH 43224