MIAMI TWP. — A judge has ruled against a local man who’s been operating his barn as a venue for events, such as weddings.
In a decision filed last week in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, Judge Kimberly Melnick ruled that Stoney Hill Farm, a barn owned by Darren Powlette on Upper Miamisburg Road in Miami Twp., “constitutes (as) a public nuisance.”
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It was found that the barn was not “constructed, erected, altered, manufactured, or repaired” under Ohio law and the state building code.
Melnick also wrote that Powlette continued to use the barn as a space for “public assembly and occupancy for numerous events” even after a June 2018 stop work/adjudication order.
The only action Powlette took to correct any issues since the 2018 order was by submitting an application and construction documents for review a week before an Aug. 28 hearing this year, court records state. The judge noted that “no building permit has been approved/issued” for the barn.
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As part of the ruling, Powlette has been ordered to cease all operations or use of the barn as “a place a public assembly or occupancy” until the previous court order has been fully resolved or removed and the barn is in full compliance with Ohio law.
Powlette has also been ordered to pay the costs of the court the court action.