Trafalgar council member says he violated zoning codes, but feels targeted

Editor’s note: This story is a follow-up to an article published in last weekend’s paper titled, “Trafalgar council member called ‘hypocrite,’ accused of violating town codes.” For full context, see that story.

Embattled Trafalgar Council Member Jeff Eisenmenger says he believes he has a target on his back, despite admitting that he is violating town zoning codes.

Eisenmenger has been accused by at least three other members of the town council of violating zoning codes by allowing people to live in commercial buildings. He has also been called by other members a “hypocrite” and “deceitful” for violating town codes while sitting on a council that creates and enforces laws.

He is a business owner and realtor in Trafalgar and owns at least 30 properties around the county, including Small Town Pizza and Sub Co. in Trafalgar.

He mostly denies the allegations against him, and believes the town council is just targeting him for zoning violations and other issues, despite others in town doing the same as him.

Other town council members, including Jason Ramey and council president Jessica Jones, say they are not out to get Eisenmenger. They just want him to follow the rules.

The violations

Eisenmenger questions how the process has played out, seemingly behind his back. He said no one on the council or with the town reached out to him to talk about zoning violations and it wasn’t brought up in a public meeting until November. He was not aware they were looking into him until he received the violation letters in October.

Ramey and Jones said they did not approach Eisenmenger about the complaints about his properties, prior to the zoning letters.

Jones said she approached the town attorney about the issues, but never spoke to Eisenmenger about it as it’s a “touchy subject” because he is an elected official.

He was issued two letters from the town notifying him of alleged zoning violations. One letter cited his restaurant, at 106 W. Pearl St., for a violation because a recently arrested individual claimed to live at that address in a court records report.

A second letter from Nov. 15 cited a property he owns on contract at 100 W. Pearl St., known as the “old bank building” and the former location of the Trafalgar library.

He is renting the commercially zoned building, to Betty Davis as a residence.

“Technically, it is (a violation),” Eisenmenger said. “But like I’ve said, they’re rampant around here. I can name 20 places that are being operated the same way.”

Despite looking like a commercial building on the outside, the old bank building is renovated to include proper facilities for someone to live there, including a bathroom, heat, water and small kitchen appliances.

Eisenmenger bought the property back on contract a couple of years ago from the deeded owners, who moved to Florida. He also had owned it years prior, after the library moved out in 2008, according to property records.

Eisenmenger said town officials have never paid attention to people living in commercially-zoned spaces until now.

Davis, commonly known as “Miss Betty,” has lived in the old bank building for around a year, she said. Eisenmenger reached out to her after he bought the property and renovated it, asking if she’d like to live there.

“He knew that I loved this old bank building. I did love it,” Davis said. “I said, ‘I don’t know if I can afford it.’ But he came up with an amount that I could afford. And I love where I am. That’s the honest truth.”

Davis also runs “Miss Betty’s Boutique” out of the building. She is using the space to sell products made by local artists, she said.

Years ago, Davis owned and operated a dinner theater at another commercial building in Trafalgar for decades, where she also lived.

Nobody did anything about it then, she said.

Davis said Eisenmenger has been a great landlord to her, and complimented him and his brother for the work they do in the community.

Another property Eisenmenger rents out is a small building behind Small Town Pizza, with the address of 101 N. Kentucky St. That small building is also zoned commercial, yet someone lives there, he said. It has not been cited.

Eisenmenger said renting commercial buildings as residences “only became an issue” when town council members found out he was doing it.

“It’s just something (where) they grabbed the carrot and now they think they can run with it. It’s just something else to attack me about,” Eisenmenger said.

Eisenmenger is the only person who has received violation letters, so far.

“It was only me being targeted and discriminated against,” Eisenmenger said.

One of the violations has already been resolved. Eisenmenger’s first violation notice at the pizza shop was rejected by the town board of zoning appeals, who cited a lack of evidence to find him in violation.

This violation stemmed from Hunter Rickenbach reporting that his address was 106 W. Pearl St., the address of Small Town Pizza, in a Franklin City Court record.

Rickenbach worked at Small Town Pizza for around a year and he listed the address of the pizza shop as his home because he was living in a van at the time, Eisenmenger said.

Rickenbach never lived inside the pizza shop, Eisenmenger said.

Other than the court record, the town had no other evidence to cite the building for a violation. Tim Guyer, town inspector, said he watched the property for several weeks, and could not find if someone lived there.

‘He should’ve known better’

Still, other town council members think Eisenmenger should remedy his other zoning violations at the bank building and 101 N. Kentucky St.

“I mean, he should’ve known better than to violate them in the first place,” Jones said.

The council is taking on zoning violations now to better Trafalgar, not because of a vendetta. Eisenmenger received letters because several residents reported his violations, she said.

“There is no ‘ring leader,’ and I can promise you that,” Jones said.

Ramey said he wants Eisenmenger to follow the rules and be held accountable. He agreed that Small Town Pizza is not in violation, but there are other properties around Trafalgar the town will address, he said.

While zoning violations have not been addressed for years, Ramey said it is time for that to change. He plans to look into other violations Eisenmenger has brought up.

“A sitting elected official is basically stating that people openly violating the laws and ordinances of our town isn’t a problem,” Ramey said. “With that, you know, why do we worry about people speeding? Why are we going to worry about shoplifting?”

Ramey pointed out Eisenmenger’s properties are not the first violations the town has cited. The town went after the owner of Southern Comfort Café for fire system and zoning violations in May. Eisenmenger, along with the rest of the council, voted on May 19 to allow the town BZA to revoke the café’s zoning variance, according to town council minutes.

Eisenmenger, however, said this week he supported the Southern Comfort Café, and never wanted them gone. He also believes they were run out of town, which the owner, James Lochard, has also said.

Ramey said Eisenmenger could easily fix his violations by applying for a rezoning or a variance with the BZA. The same goes for every other property in violation.

“He keeps exposing his wrongdoing and expecting everyone to go, ‘Oh, that’s cool. It’s Jeff. Don’t worry about it. He’s a good guy,’ or ‘Jeff does a lot for the community,’” Ramey said.

Ramey also said it’s a safety issue because if the fire department, for example, sees a building is zoned commercial and thinks no one lives there, it could dangerous if there ever is a fire and they think people aren’t inside.

Eisenmenger has said several times during this dispute that he wants to see the town adopt mixed-use zoning to remedy the zoning issues. He does not think the town should displace people.

However, Jones and Ramey said the goal is not to make people homeless. Ramey would like to see properties either rezoned or given variances where needed, he said.

Brock Builders

Another issue with communication between the town and Eisenmenger stems from a separate dispute he is involved in with a stop work order on a property he owns.

On Feb. 7, town officials issued a stop work order on a house under construction at 32 Downing Drive in the Crest Ridge Estates subdivision. The home is being built by Nineveh-based Brock Builders, and Eisenmenger is the deeded owner of the property, according to online property records.

Work continued on the property for months after the order was issued, as reported in town plan commission meeting minutes from March, June, August, September and October.

Eisenmenger claims he has had little involvement with 32 Downing Drive and Brock Builders since he became the deeded owner in November 2021.

He only owns the property because Bruce Brock took out a mortgage from Eisenmenger for $30,000 to buy the property, but Brock could not pay it. So, Eisenmenger took ownership of the property.

“It wasn’t our project, it wasn’t our house. We had nothing to do with that. I was the lender,” Eisenmenger said.

Because of this, Eisenmenger said he was not made aware of the stop work order when it was issued in February, despite claims from Jones and Ramey saying he knew the whole time and let work continue.

He said he was never sent a letter by the town as the deeded property owner, and never saw the stop work order sign at 32 Downing Drive because he rarely goes there, he said.

Eisenmenger also does not sit on the plan commission, so he claims he did not know the property was discussed in several meetings.

When asked, town officials could not provide proof a letter was sent to Eisenmenger regarding 32 Downing Drive. Former plan commission attorney John Young said he was aware of Brock Builders being notified but could not confirm if Eisenmenger was issued a letter.

The issue with Brock Builders escalated to the council on Sept. 15 when they voted to impose a fine for each day work continued. Eisenmenger, despite owning the property, voted in favor of the fine. He also did not disclose his stake in the property at the meeting.

He originally said that meeting in September was the first time he heard about the stop work order. After that meeting, Eisenmenger sent a letter to Brock Builders, telling them all work must stop.

However, Eisenmenger was possibly made aware of the stop work order earlier. He was copied on an email in May sent to all town council members regarding the stop work order and an engineering report. When asked about that email, he said he did not remember that email.

The town is now suing Brock Builders and Eisenmenger for violating the stop work order. Eisenmenger has filed an answer denying his involvement, and a cross claim against Brock Builders, saying he owes them nothing and showing he is their mortgage lender.

‘It’s just overall jealousy’

Eisenmenger said he thinks the other council members’ actions against him are politically motivated to get him out of office.

“It’s just overall jealousy. They do not want me on that board,” Eisenmenger said.

Other council members have a history of making accusations against him, he said. In addition to the zoning violations, council members also accused him of stealing water at one of his properties this summer.

A resident complaint filed on June 29 said the water on 103 State Road 135 had been turned on and was not billed to the town. Eisenmenger owns that property.

At the time, Ramey emailed the town council members saying, “turning on a water meter without an account sounds a lot like theft of water to me. I have verified with (the) town employee that this was done.”

However, the town utility clerk responded on June 30, saying Eisenmenger had notified her that the water was turned on, and it was billed on June 24. Eisenmenger also emailed the water was turned on briefly to find a possible leak.

“They accused me of stealing water without even checking with their own utility employee first,” Eisenmenger said.

He said they did the same to him in 2019, and had 13 people run against him in the May primary election. Daily Journal reporting from the times shows 11 people actively ran for the seat, with one person attempting to withdraw but was unable.

Ramey disagrees with Eisenmenger’s claims that he is a target. He and Eisenmenger do not get along, but that does not mean he wants him gone.

“It’s cute, you know, they can make me the bad guy,” Ramey said. “It drives me nuts because I’m not after Jeff. I’m not after anyone. I want people to follow the rules.”

Jones also said she never said she wants Eisenmenger out of office.

“I’ve never said I want him gone. And I’ve told him this before, he’s done a lot of good for our community,” Jones said.

Ramey joined the council to fix problems he saw in town, and what he thought was corruption on the town board. He, Jones and Siegfred are newer to the council than Eisenmenger, and they want to make changes. That does not mean they are targeting someone, he said.

“We’re doing the job that we were elected to do … and I’ll be honest, if the public wants to continue to reelect the person who openly violates laws and policy, then they can. I think that’s the beautiful thing about this democracy,” Ramey said.