Huron wins state Supreme Court appeal

HURON — The city of Huron won an appeal in a case in which it cited a property owner for property maintenance issues. Ohio's Sixth District Court of Appeals ruled that ordinances Huron claimed were broken by Michael Kisil's property on Wheeler Drive were not "unconstitutionally vague," according to the court's ruling. Ohio's Supreme Court agreed. In June 2022, the city cited Kisil. Among the citations, the city made these claims about Kisil's property: • That the property lacked water service for more than a decade • That the structure had holes in the roof • That the property contained numerous items of debris, including barrels, boats, trailers and propane tanks • That a breakwall was crumbling into the river Kisil argued that four of the citations were unconstitutionally vague. A Huron Municipal Court judge agreed with Kisil's assessment and dismissed two of the citations. The city then appealed the decision to the sixth district. That court reinstated the citations and sent the case back to Huron Municipal Court. Then Kisil appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court. He argued that the appeals court erred in reinstating the charges and misapplied a case involving a slow-moving demolition in Youngstown. The justices were in agreement and voted unanimously to uphold the Sixth District's holding. "A statute or ordinance will not be struck down as unconstitutionally vague if the challenger's conduct clearly falls within the activities proscribed by the statute," said Justice Pat Fischer, who wrote the court's opinion. New hearing dates for the citations have not yet been set by Huron Municipal Court officials.