Property owner faces more court

WARREN-MONTGOMERY CO. LINE, Ohio (WDTN) - The owner of 2248 Pennyroyal Road, property that spans two counties and two townships, faces another court hearing now that the law director of Clearcreek Township claims he is in contempt of court.

The dispute stems from the driveway off Pennyroyal Road that part of Howard Gray's property.  It runs through a residential area of Clearcreek Township in Warren County and into Montgomery county where the land is zoned "light industrial."

As I reported last Friday, Gray bought the 8-plus acres in 2004.

He's been operating a storage facility on the Montgomery County portion of his property for years.

Gray got permission from Clearcreek Township to use his residential driveway to get commercial business in and out of the storage facility, but  the zoning inspector made a mistake.  The matter ended up in Warren County courts.

Now neither the Grays nor their renters can use the driveway to access the business so there is no business.  The driveway is the only way in and out of the storage facility.

A court order dated November 6, 2012 to which the Grays agreed required them to supply a list of renters and contact information to Clearcreek Township so the zoning inspector could arrange time for them to get their stuff.

The township's law director says that hasn't happened and the fence that the Grays eventually erected to keep commercial traffic out might not be good enough.

So she, Jill Mead, filed a motion for the court to hold a hearing so the Grays can show how they are NOT in contempt of court.

On the final page it states should the Defendants fail to fully comply with the Agreed order, the first remedy available to the Township is to seek an order issuing a $45,000 fine against the Defendants.

The motion states the Defendants have "clearly demonstrated that they never had any intention of complying with this Court's Orders."

The attorney for the Grays, Andy George, told 2 NEWS On Assignment he doesn't believe the Grays are in contempt of court and he has sent a list of tenants to Clearcreek Township.