Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
For some residents of Jerusalem Township getting a good night’s sleep can be difficult.
On some nights and early mornings, noise from a trucking company on S. North Curtice Road has been a problem, according to residents who say operations at the Luce Trucking Company have been a disruption to their daily routines. And with summer approaching, noise issues are likely to become more of a problem.
The residents’ frustration is compounded by a court decision in 2020 that affirms the findings of the township board of zoning appeals and the township trustees that Luce Trucking Company was in violation of a special use permit for the property.
The Lucas County Common Pleas Court ruled in July 2020 that the zoning board and trustees were correct in determining the company had violated the special use permit by operating before 6 a.m. and after 9 p.m. and making repairs to trucks outside of a designated building.
“After carefully reviewing the transcript of proceedings in this matter, the briefs of the parties, and the arguments of counsel, this Court finds that Appellees’ (zoning appeals board and the trustees) Oct. 16, 2019 and Dec. 8, 2019 decisions finding Appellants (Luce Trucking) had violated the conditions of the Special Use Permit… was supported by the preponderance of substantial, reliable, and probative evidence and was not arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable,” Judge Linda Jennings wrote.
Still, almost five years after the court decision, violations of the permit continue at the site, say residents and a township trustee.
Shawna Wishon, a resident of N. Curtice Road, said she began documenting the company’s operations with a video camera prior to the court case and presented her findings to the township zoning office.
Wishon said her neighbors have also complained of noise from the site before and after the allowable hours.
Butch Berger, who lives a block away from the company, also said loud noise has been a problem – particularly in the summer months.
“You can sure hear them, when they’re using jake braking, and have loud exhausts, you can hear them idling at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning,” he said.
Charles and Sandra Luce purchased the property, which is zoned C-2 general commercial, in April 1996, according to records in the Lucas County auditor’s office.
In February 1998, the township approved a site plan that permitted the Luces to operate a trucking business, including hauling and minor repairs, according to court records.
But in June 2019, the township zoning office issued a violation notice, alleging the company had violated the conditions of the special use permit by servicing vehicles outside the specified building, working beyond the allowable hours of operation and hauling steel with semi-tractor trailers when the special use permit allowed only dump trucks hauling aggregate.
The board of zoning appeals and the trustees upheld the violation decision.
In their filing with the common pleas court, the Luces argued the township’s determination the property was being utilized in a non-permitted manner was against the expressly permitted uses authorized by the township zoning resolution and against provisions of the site plan.
They further asserted they used the property as a storage area for motor vehicles and had never used the property to load, unload, or haul semi-trailers or perform large-scale vehicle repairs.
Two months after the court decision a deputy of the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office filed a report that states he witnessed employees working on a “semi truck” outside the designated building. No charges were filed at the time.
Township records indicate the former zoning inspector, Linda Rossler, contacted Melissa Purpura, law director for the City of Oregon, in May 2024 about violations and residents’ complaints. However, Purpura replied in an email that Oregon Municipal Court doesn’t have jurisdiction over enforcing the permits. She referred the matter to John Borrell, assistant prosecuting attorney in Lucas County.
David Bench, a township trustee, contacted Borrell in October 2024 by email, asking for an update on the matter.
Borrell told The Press he’s received at least two requests by email from township officials asking that his office consider the case but no one from the township responded when he asked for more information.
“I asked that a zoning official contact me to discuss. However, no one contacted me,” he said.
Rossler, who resigned as zoning inspector last year, said her office also consulted with an attorney about the township pursuing the matter in court but she didn’t find much public support.
“If the township took the case to court that could require residents to testify in person and I think many of them were intimidated and they weren’t willing to do that,” she said.
Bench said he’s also encountered some hesitancy among residents about getting involved in a court matter.
But he said last month he’s looking to generate interest to have the issue addressed.
“I’ll have to get out and beat the bushes and get people to come to a meeting and stand up for themselves,” he said. “The court decision was pretty clear cut.”
Sally Slomka, who lives with her husband at the corner of Brown and N. Curtice Rd., echoed Bench’s sentiments.
“I anticipate having to keep my windows shut again this summer,” she said. “We need to stand strong. This should never have happened. But it gets pushed to the wayside.”
Mr. Luce told The Press he sold the business two years ago. Records in the county auditor’s office, however, show that the property taxes for the site and building are still levied in his and his wife’s names.
An employee of the county recorder’s office said there were no records of a land contract sale of the business in the last two years. The records do show a land installment contract between the Luces as sellers and buyers David Dean and Brent Dean was completed in February 2018.
The minutes of several meetings of the township trustees in recent years include items listing Dean Trucking Co. and Luce Trucking Co. with the same address at 1608 S. North Curtice Road.
