A Douglas County farmer said he didn't need the permission of the county commission to run a maze on his property.
A Douglas County farmer is thumbing his nose at the Douglas County Commission, saying he will open a maze this week without abiding by restrictions dictated by the commission.
Richard Strong said he didn't need to get the temporary business permit granted Sept. 8 by the commission.
He said he doesn't have to treat a nearby road for dust, put up a $500 cleaning deposit or close each day by 8 p.m. -- the three conditions laid out when the permit was granted.
"I am a farmer, and I am using this as an agricultural use," Strong said. "I'm not considered a business."
Strong said he was trying to make the best of a bad situation when he carved a maze through the overgrown weeds and lost sweet-corn crop in one of his fields at 1919 N. 1500 Rd.
He said he intends the maze as a Halloween attraction with people in costume, games and a bonfire or two.
Strong has hired seven people and said he will open Thursday or Friday of this week, running the maze from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. four days a week and charging $5 admission for adults, $4 for children and students.
It is the admission that brings Strong into the realm of the county's zoning and codes department, said Keith Dabney, department director.
Dabney said last week that running a haunted maze is not the same as selling pumpkins or squash.
Strong said his attorney was to deliver a letter to the county delineating his stance on the issue.
Commissioners Charles Jones and Dean Nieder said Tuesday night that they hadn't received the letter or been able to discuss the situation in depth with county staff.
"We'll have to look at his letter and turn it over to our attorneys and see what they say," Jones said. "I think he has a right to seek counsel and see what his legal rights are, and we have to do the same."
Jones was the author of some of the restrictions placed on the temporary business permit. Jones said the nature of Halloween would draw a different group of people to the maze than to a cornfield maze run this summer at Pendleton Farms. For that reason, Strong should close by 8 p.m., Jones reasoned.
Two of Strong's neighbors attended Monday's county commission meeting to voice their concerns about the haunted maze.
Regardless, Strong said he believes he has the right to run his maze without county approval.
"If they are going to keep me from earning money, they better have a good reason," Strong said. "They would have to have more reasons than they used the other night."
-- Kendrick Blackwood's phone message number is 832-7221. His e-mail address is kblackwood@ljworld.com.
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