WHEELING - If you ask David O'Brien, Ohio County leaders are trying to force him to sell the 20 acres of land he owns near The Highlands to build the planned Wild Escape theme park.
In fact, O'Brien believes county officials have raised his property taxes by increasing the land's value as part of their alleged efforts to force him to sell the property.
Ohio County Assessor Kathie Hoffman originally set O'Brien's property value at just $4,050 for the 2009 tax year. She now, however, has increased that value more than 200-fold for a total appraised value of $833,450.
"They are trying to use these taxes to coerce me to sell (the property) to them," O'Brien said last week during a stop in Wheeling, where he discussed the matter with the Sunday News-Register.
O'Brien, a Wheeling native who now lives in Cherry Hill, N.J., has been locked in a three-year dispute with county officials regarding his land - a hillside area nestled between Interstate 70 and J.C. Penney and Target at The Highlands - since 2006. He maintains that he "had a deal" to sell the land to the county for $900,000 in June 2006, but the deal eventually fell apart. Now, O'Brien said county leaders are threatening to take his land through eminent domain so they can build an access road through the property.
County Commissioner Randy Wharton disputes O'Brien's claims, noting the county does not need or want his land to complete Phase V of The Highlands development, commonly known as the Wild Escape area.
"We are not taking his property. We do not want his property. We do not need his property. We are not going to do anything on his property," Wharton said.
"Because we have refused to buy his property, he tries to stir up problems to exert pressure on us."
"That property can stay like that forever," Commissioner David Sims added.
Commissioners have repeatedly said that O'Brien is not even allowed to legally access his property because of the contract his mother signed when the property was sold to the state of West Virginia to make way for I-70 in 1964. O'Brien, however, believes that a court would see the matter differently and grant him access.
Wild Escape Area
O'Brien maintains that it will cost the Ohio County Development Authority - the county arm charged with developing The Highlands - $32 million more to build an access road for Wild Escape than it would if the agency were to purchase his property, as originally planned.
His claim appears to have merit. An "Alternative Site Economic Analysis" sent by the county development authority to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2007 and obtained by the Sunday News-Register indicates that earthwork for the Wild Escape area would cost $24 million with O'Brien's property as part of the plan. However, the same report shows that earthwork will cost $56 million without O'Brien's property.
Wharton disputes those numbers.
"Those numbers indicate just one of many possible scenarios," Wharton said, countering the county's own report. "We would never pay $32 million more for earthwork. ... It is not true.
"We will build that road as effectively and efficiently as we possibly can," he added.
As for the proposed theme park, Wild Escape President Steve Minard maintains he still plans to construct the ambitious project, though has not committed to any time frame for the park's opening.
Property Appraisal
For the 2008 tax year, then-Ohio County Assessor Greg Kloeppner appraised O'Brien's 20 acres at $829,100, a sizable increase from the $5,800 the property was appraised at the previous year. Seeking to reduce his property taxes, O'Brien applied to the West Virginia Division of Forestry's Managed Timberland Program, a tax incentive program based on the ability of the land to produce future timberland income.
Following his admission to the state-regulated program, O'Brien's property appraisal for tax purposes dropped from $833,450 for the current tax year to $4,050. The decrease in value is a result of state regulations and incentives associated with the timberland program.
This drop in value apparently caused concern among some Ohio County officials.
A letter from Hoffman to O'Brien dated June 22, 2009, states, "The decision to grant you managed timberland was through the state of West Virginia Department of Natural Resources - it really was not mine to make."
O'Brien then used his property's newfound timberland status to challenge the county's Phase V development plans.
On Aug. 17, O'Brien sent an e-mail to Ohio County Administrator Greg Stewart stating, "The current plans for Phase V will deprive my land of surface water and spring water for my streams. That will have an adverse effect on the timber, underbrush and wildlife on my property. If you remain unwilling to compensate me for these lost water rights, once the OCDA begins construction, I will be forced to file a lawsuit seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions to protect my water rights. ..."
In response to O'Brien's e-mail, Stewart wrote, "I understand. Then I will be looking into the managed timberland value. Any taxes due will also include the years when any tax credit was taken under that proviso. We will be back taxing for all years. If you want to end the cooperation, we can do that. It's up to you!"
O'Brien said he received no further word on his property's status until late last month. An e-mail from Hoffman to O'Brien dated Jan. 29 states, "This is to inform you that as of this date, I have removed the property ... from the managed timberland exemption," which means his property now is valued for tax purposes at $833,450.
O'Brien said he believes Hoffman's action is a direct result of what he termed "the threat" in Stewart's e-mail.
"You've read Stewart's response. What else can it mean?" he said.
Jean Miller, clerk for the managed timberland program at the forestry division, defended her agency's decision to grant the O'Brien's property managed timberland status. "As far as I know, that land still qualifies for managed timberland," she said.
"We had a forester look at the property, and we believe it does qualify," Miller added of O'Brien's 20 acres. Wharton had questioned whether the state had even inspected the land before granting managed timberland status.
O'Brien now will go before the county Board of Equalization and Review, which handles property appraisal matters, in an effort to get his value returned to $4,050, as it was with the exemption. Hoffman said she could not comment on anything involving O'Brien's property until his hearing later this month. A definitive hearing date has not been set.
"All I can say is that I have followed the state code," Hoffman said when asked if she had the authority to revoke the timberland status.
As commissioners, Wharton, Sims and Tim McCormick, who sit as the board of review, will hear O'Brien's case.
"We will certainly give him a full and fair hearing just like we do for any property owner who comes before us," Wharton said.
Wharton and Stewart said O'Brien recently enlisted a local real estate agency to market his 20 acres at a price in excess of $1 million. As such, county officials believe they are in the right to increase the appraisal.
"If he wants to market that property for that much, how can he get by saying it is only worth $4,050?" Wharton said.
Resolutions
Through it all, O'Brien stresses that he does not oppose the entire project at The Highlands.
"I just want them to stop trying to take my property," he said, noting he would file a lawsuit if he deems it necessary.
O'Brien further wants Stewart to resign as county administrator and secretary/treasurer of the OCDA. He also wants commissioners Wharton, Sims and McCormick to resign from the OCDA.
In their place, O'Brien wants a "politically bipartisan board," as he notes all commissioners are Democrats.
Wharton, however, rejects such notions.
"I don't think it would be appropriate for the commissioners to resign from the board because we are so involved. We understand the issues, and know what is going on up there," he said. "And for that matter, politics play absolutely no role in anything we do at The Highlands."