(A) A municipal corporation that has established and implemented a watershed management program with regard to a reservoir for drinking water shall allow an owner of property that is contiguous to property that constitutes a buffer around a body of water that is part of such a reservoir to maintain property that constitutes a buffer if the maintenance is for any of the following:

(1) Creation of an access path that is not wider than five feet to the body of water;

(2) Creation of a view corridor along adjacent property boundaries;

(3) Removal of invasive plant species as defined in section 901.50 of the Revised Code;

(4) Creation and maintenance of a filter strip of plants and grass that are native to the area surrounding the reservoir in order to provide adequate filtering of wastewater and polluted runoff from the owner's property to the body of water;

(5) Beautification of the property.

(B) A peace officer or other official with authority to cite trespassers on property that is owned by a municipal corporation and that constitutes a buffer as described in division (A) of this section shall not issue a civil or criminal citation to an individual who enters the property for the sole purpose of mowing grass, weeds, or other vegetation or for any of the purposes specified in that division.

Added by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 64, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2015.

Note: The Court of Common Pleas for Franklin County issued a Preliminary Injunction ordering that the provisions and effective date of R.C. 743.50 are preliminarily enjoined and do not have any force or effect until the court enters a final judgment. The court also enjoined the state from enforcing, applying, or implementing, or otherwise acting on any provision of R.C. 743.50 until the court enters a final judgment. Finally, any action, order, directive, instruction, or other action that purports to enforce or take any action relating to, or in reliance on a provision of R.C. 743.50 are void, ineffective, and enjoined until the court enters a final judgment.