ZANESVILLE – Barnes Advertising filed a motion for reconsideration, its last viable option, to the Ohio Supreme Court on Nov. 6, with two of its downtown billboards and their easements hanging in the balance.
The ongoing eminent domain case between it and the Muskingum County Convention Facilities Authority (CFA) reached its conclusion Jan. 6, when Barnes’ request was denied by the Supreme Court and signed off by Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy.
“The ship has sailed for the taking,” said Mike Galasso, Barnes’ attorney, told the Times Recorder.
Barnes’ reconsideration went before seven chief justices, requiring a four-vote majority to stay alive. They only received one, he noted.
“We felt like we had a chance,” Galasso added. “The court did not agree with us.”
It was the last effort for the local advertising agency looking to maintain the billboards at their current locations in the Welcome Center’s parking lot. Now the case will return to the Muskingum County Court of Common Pleas, where a jury will decide fair compensation for the signs’ removal and their easements’ revocations.
The two parties’ attorneys recently met with presiding local judge Kelly Cottrill and tentatively scheduled the jury trial for late March, said Stephanie Winland, the CFA’s executive director. Winland is hoping they can reach a resolution before that, she told the Times Recorder.
The supreme court initially declined review of the case Oct. 28 and was followed by Galasso’s submission for reconsideration Nov. 6. Cottrill and the Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals both previously ruled in the CFA’s favor in October 2024 and May 2025. The case has been active since March 2024.
The billboards stand in the way of a CFA plan to level parts of the Welcome Center parking lot and a vacated portion of the neighboring Elberon Avenue in order to construct two community pavilions.
In summer 2025, the CFA received a $500,000 Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) grant to match with several other earlier funding awards. They’ll all go toward the $6.5 million Gateway project to build the 36 stalls for farmers markets, festivals, and other community events.
Barnes had an easement for each sign, which were active even after selling the property at 205 N. Fifth St. to the CFA and moving to Fairview Road in the 1990s.
Shawn Digity is a reporter for the Zanesville Times Recorder. He can be emailed at sdigity@gannett.com or found on X at @ShawnDigityZTR.
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Ohio Supreme Court denies Barnes’ reconsideration in billboard case
Reporting by Shawn Digity, Zanesville Times Recorder / Zanesville Times Recorder
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