Wednesday, August 18, 1999
Pay fishing lake plan hits snag
Warren Co. Commission tosses it back
BY SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — A Harlan Township man's plan to build a pay fishing lake on his property sank Tuesday after the Warren County Commission rejected it because of neighbor complaints.
Dennis Patterson is building a 2-acre lake on his 17-acre farm on Jackson-Runyan Road. He asked the commission to change the zoning on his property from rural to a resort zone, so he could charge people to fish there. He also wanted to build a cabin, where he could sell bait.
After an initial outcry by several neighbors at a July commission meeting, Mr. Patterson agreed to run the operation from 9 a.m. to dusk, to stay open only between Monday and Thursday and to forbid overnight camping.
His concessions failed to hook any of the three commissioners. He needed their unanimous approval to overturn an earlier denial by the Warren County Regional Planning Commission.
They cited complaints ex pressed at the meeting by about 10 neighbors who said they worried that more traffic on narrow Jackson-Runyan Road would put their children at risk.
Two cars cannot fit on the road at the same time; when they pass, one must pull off the road into the dirt.
Other residents told commissioners they feared the fishing lake would attract unwanted, disruptive visitors to their quiet, rustic neighborhood.
“We're very responsible parents, but there's a limit in terms of what you invite into your back yard,” said neighbor Susan Keller.
“It's a rural area; people want to live out there,” said neighbor James Phipps.
But Mr. Patterson said his fishing operation would have attracted only about five to six people a day. Also, the Pentecostal minister holds services every Sunday for about 30-50 people on his property, and his neighbors never complained about the traffic.
More dangerous than a few extra cars every day, he said, are the pieces of farm equipment his neighbors drive down Jackson-Runyan Road, blocking the entire street.
He's considering taking the decision to court.
“I've got to pray about this,” he said.
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