PENDLETON -
A popular fishing spot and campground has also become home to sex offenders just out of jail.
Rod and reel season is coming and a lake that's popular with Indiana fishing fans is trying to tackle a legal problem that started when sex offenders landed on the property.
Pine Lakes fishing cabins off I-69 in Pendleton are for rent and recreation. In season, it's packed with campers and children. But some recent guests in those cabins got lawmakers' attention.
The state's Department of Correction says 12 convicted sex offenders released from prison moved into the cabins temporarily. The DOC paid the park $150 a week per person and the longest stayed for about a week.
The department says it was all done according to state law.
"No, that's not cool," said one resident.
"Not safe, not good for the kids around here," said Dillon Hudson.
"There's a housing addition over there, so that doesn't really keep them away from kids," said another man.
The controversy led a town board to order the park to get rid of the cabins in 180 days or face fines. It's the backbone of their business.
"I'm just a guy who tried to help people who I can and sometimes, I step on people's toes and I don't mean to," said Pine Lakes owner Peter Walls, who says he was just trying to help someone.
But the park lost its town variance to keep cabins at the location. Not because they temporarily housed sex offenders, but because the ex-offenders listed the cabins as their permanent home on the state's sex offender registry. By zoning rules, these cannot be permanent houses, they have no plumbing.
"I'm going to stay out of it, because I don't want to hurt our variance," Walls said.
The park hopes to win back its rights to keep cabins on the lake. All the ex-offenders are gone now, but at least 11 still live around Pendleton.
"If there's been no history of a problem, I don't see...it was off-season, I don't think they should lose zoning over it," said another resident.
In about two weeks, Pine Lakes' owners will likely ask the town to restore its variance, just in time for fishing season. The president of the town council says he'll support the lake resort, which is like bait, luring money into the local economy.
