Among his concerns, Feicht said the area has been overrun with weeds and is now being used as a makeshift truckstop. Feicht said he routinely saw between one and three trucks parked in the parking lot.
“It’s going downhill daily,” said Waynesville Mayor Earl Isaacs. “You can really tell the difference since summer’s been coming.”
The Dutchman, which was routinely used as a town meeting site and popular restaurant in the village located along U.S. 42 just north of Ohio 73, sustained more than a million dollars in damages in October when a malfunctioning chicken roaster started a fire in the kitchen.
The restaurant never reopened and its parent company, the Plain City-based Dutchman Hospitality, announced they would not reopen the restaurant, citing the high cost of repair and the relatively low client base.
In March, Kyle Fields, whose family owns several businesses in Lebanon, notably the Fields pharmacy on Ohio 73, announced plans to purchase the site and rebuild the restaurant.
Fields said his family still wanted to purchase the property, but talks with Dutchman Hospitality had stalled.
“They are not being cooperative,” Fields said.
Without discussing specific numbers, Fields said the company had “egregiously overpriced” the land, saying they compared it to land on the much more heavily traveled Fields Ertel Road.
Vicki Van Natta, spokeswoman for Dutchman Hospitality Group, said the company had been attempting to mow the area but would make sure weeds were trimmed, too.
The company was not aware of trucks parking in the area until told by The Western Star, Van Natta said, but added they would investigate the claim and chain the area off, if necessary.
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4544 or jmcclelland@coxohio.com.
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