Case No. 2011-1850 City of Girard, Ohio v. The Youngstown Belt Railway Company et al.

Does Federal Law Preempt City's Suit in State Court to Appropriate Railroad Property for Use as Public Parkland?

Where City's Plan Would Preserve Future Use of Tracks for Rail Transportation

City of Girard, Ohio v. The Youngstown Belt Railway Company et al., Case no. 2011-1850
Eleventh District Court of Appeals (Trumbull County)

ISSUE: When an Ohio city files suit in state court seeking to exercise its eminent domain authority to appropriate property owned by a railroad company for use as public parkland, and the city’s appropriation plan excludes the portions of the property occupied by railroad tracks and preserves the potential future use of those tracks for rail transportation, does a state court have jurisdiction to hear and decide the eminent domain action, or is such an action preempted by the federal Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act (ICCTA)?

Time	Title
00:00:37	Frank Bodor for the City of Girard
00:17:37	Michael Stokes for the state, amicus curiae in support of neither party
00:27:55	Thomas Lipka for the Youngstown Belt Railway Company
00:43:47	Summation: Frank Bodor for the City of Girard