By Randy Ludlow
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
LANCASTER, Ohio -- Eagle's Nest Ranch & Academy cannot conduct classes inside a horse barn because of the "incredible and potential risk of harm to students," a Fairfield County judge ruled yesterday.
Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Berens declined to grant Eagle's Nest a stay of a state order prohibiting the educational use of its barn because of serious fire-code violations.
Scott Wayland, president of Eagle's Nest, said he planned to set up a modular classroom by the end of the week to continue classes for 68 high-school-age students sent by area public school districts.
That move could spark a battle with Bloom Township trustees, who may require a zoning variance for a modular classroom because the facility is zoned for agriculture.
Wayland, who sued the township in a zoning fight over Eagle's Nest, said he would ask township officials for the required conditional-use permit.
He said that if the board of zoning appeals denies the variance, it would show that township officials have targeted the ranch for elimination.
Eagle's Nest and Wayland asked Berens on Friday to temporarily set aside a decision by the Ohio Board of Building Appeals that upheld citations and orders issued by the state fire marshal.
The fire inspectors told the judge yesterday that the barn is hazardous for classes because it is made of wood, holds straw and horse bedding, has no exterior exits from classrooms, and lacks sprinklers, a fire-detection system and emergency lighting.
After more than two hours of testimony from two state fire inspectors, Berens concluded there would be "undue risk" in allowing classes to continue in the horse barn south of Lithopolis.
Wayland argued that Eagle's Nest is an agricultural operation and that it was not cited for violations by the fire marshal for operating classrooms inside the large barn after an inspection in 1999.
Eleven school districts are spending about $675,000 this school year to send troubled children to the school for classroom instruction and therapeutic work with horses.
Students will not attend classes in the barn, but rather work with horses, until the modular unit arrives, Wayland said. Students also may be assigned classroom work to do at home, he said.
Paul La Fayette, lawyer for Bloom Township, said Eagle's Nest could be cited for a zoning violation if it uses a modular classroom. The unit could be used only with a zoning variance since the ranch is zoned for agriculture, he said.
School districts that send students to the ranch "desperately want us to be there and survive," Wayland said.
rludlow@dispatch.com
