Haunted house set to open at old missile base Sept. 6 without certificate of occupancy
A business is advertising "haunted tours" at an old Nike missile base this fall. The county says the business doesn't have a certificate of occupancy, though, and last year the haunted house was shut down under similar circumstances.
One year after plans for a haunted house at the site of Cold War-era Nike missile base in Oxford Township were scrapped, the owner is again planning to launch the attraction this fall.
The website for the attraction, dubbed the Area 13 Project, advertises “haunted tours” starting at 7 p.m. each Friday and Saturday from Sept. 6 through Nov. 6. General admission will cost $25.
Last year, the project stalled because the land is zoned for agricultural use. Owner Jesse VonStein requested a variance for commercial use of the property last summer, which Butler County’s Building and Zoning department denied.
The department hasn’t received any updates from VonStein this year, though. David Fehr, director of development for Butler County, said any use of the property for commercial purposes would have had to go through his office, which hasn’t happened.
“I’ve not spoken with [VonStein], nor has our zoning inspector, so I don’t know where he’s coming to that conclusion,” Fehr said.
VonStein declined to allow the Oxford Free Press to use information or photos from an interview for this story.
A staff member of the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office also declined to comment, citing the office’s policy against commenting on ongoing investigations.
Last year, VonStein said in an interview for the Journal-News that he had been running haunted houses in the county for three decades, and the attraction would have employed up to 25 people. According to reporting by The Miami Student last fall, some of the proceeds would have gone to charitable causes.
Butler County’s rural zoning resolution states that agricultural districts are intended to keep land for agricultural uses, “very low density” housing and “other activities that are essentially rural in character.” The guidelines list churches, neighborhood and community park land or open space and public buildings as permitted uses. Some other types of properties like garden stores, public riding stables, country clubs and child care facilities are listed as conditional uses which require approval.
The rural zoning code lists commercial recreation including baseball fields, bowling alleys, amusement parks and other similar uses as permitted uses only in general business districts and business planned unit developments.
Fehr said VonStein does not have a certificate of occupancy for the structures on the property. The county grants certificates to when it has found the buildings are safe for the general public to occupy.
Fehr said the lack of a certificate of occupancy was part of the reason the county stopped the project from moving forward last year. He said it’s possible that VonStein and someone in the prosecutor’s office may have discussed the property, but Fehr’s office works closely with the prosecutor so he would have expected a notification.
“If we had some idea that he intends to occupy that building, we would attempt to possibly work through our county prosecutor’s office about next steps,” Fehr said. “I just haven’t heard what his plans are.”
The property has been open to the public at least once before. The Facebook page for Area 13 advertised an event coinciding with the solar eclipse in April, stating that “The buildings will be open for touring” during the free viewing party.
Norma Pennock, an Oxford Township Trustee, said the township wasn’t aware of any changes in the property’s status and that Fehr’s office is the proper channel to go through for zoning issues. The township hopes that every business operates within legal parameters, she added.
