Civil suit centers on underwater fishing lights

If a Lake Keowee homeowner has been told by Duke Energy that her underwater fishing lights do not violate shoreline management regulations, may her property owner’s association dictate when the hours the lights are displayed?  It’s a question raised in a civil lawsuit filed this week in Oconee County in the case of Jill Evans, the plaintiff, and the Wynward Pointe Owners Association, the defendant.  In the pleadings, Evans is described as an avid fisherman who bought a lot and home in Wynward Pointe to obtain shoreline access and boat dock access.  She installed fishing lights 12 feet under water below her dock.  The lights were used dusk to dawn to promote fish spawning and the aquatic environment, according to the pleadings.  But, they further claim, Evans received a call from Doug Hettinger, president of the Wynward Point Owners Association, and later an email stating the lights were to be used only when Evans was on the dock and actively fishing and that her use of the lights violated association covenants.  The plaintiff seeks a declaratory judgment spelling out the rights of the parties involved.