An outdoor zombie Nativity scene has run afoul of the law in a Cincinnati suburb. The gotcha? It's a zoning violation to have an "accessory structure" on your front lawn.
Sycamore Township resident Jasen Dixon was ordered to appear in Hamilton County Municipal Court on Dec. 22 to respond to the citation, said the
Cincinnati Enquirer.
Dixon told
WCPO-TV he believes the real reason are his images of an "undead" Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus which have riled the community. The same Nativity scene caused a stir last year as well.
"Zombies and baby Jesus kind of made a lot of people mad," said Dixon, noting that this year's poke in the eye was "bigger and better."
Sycamore Township zoning administrator Harry Holbert said even the undead have to abide by the township rules and the Nativity scene simply broke the law.
"This was never about the zombies," Holbert told WCPO-TV, "but rather that the manger was 15-feet high."
Township administrator Greg Bickford told
CNN if Dixon had simply built a smaller manger, he would not be facing a $500-a-day fine.
"We couldn't care less about the zombies," said Bickford. "What we care about is the zoning code."
Dixon told the Enquirer he removed the roof from the manger so it no longer met the definition of the "accessory structure," and he was cited for just one day.
Dixon found some support on social media.
Dixon posted a video on his
website and afterwards the Nativity scene drew the ire of Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, who called him a "pinhead."
"I miss the old days when Marge Schott (late Cincinnati Reds owner) was the craziest person in Cincinnati," said O'Reilly's guest Dennis Miller. "The thing I noticed Billy is that there's a lot of asses in the vicinity of that manger and none of them are donkeys."
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