Fish in Oswego subdivision ponds? You could now be charged with trespassing

Those who choose to fish in ponds owned by homeowners associations in Oswego that don’t allow fishing can now be ticketed.

At the April 22 Oswego Village Board meeting, village trustees unanimously approved a trespassing ordinance that will allow police officers to write local tickets for trespassing.

“It’s not limited to pond fishing violations,” Oswego Police Chief Jason Bastin said.

However, Bastin told village trustees that the police department receives numerous complaints annually concerning people fishing in ponds owned by homeowners associations.

“The ponds are very expensive to do certain maintenance on,” he said. “And one of the things they face is when they get a lot of people by the shoreline, it starts eroding the shoreline quicker and the HOAs have to dump a lot of money into upkeep and remediation of the pond. Plus, if they have a water circulation unit in there and they are getting fishing lines caught in there, that can also cause issues.”

He noted that not all homeowners associations in Oswego have the same rules regarding fishing in ponds.

“Some HOAs allow limited use to the residents in the neighborhood,” Bastin said.

While Bastin said the police department can address repeat offenders through the state statute for criminal trespassing, he said the statute has a couple of shortcomings.

“First, we must provide a written notice of trespass before we can act, even when the HOA has clearly marked signs that prohibit fishing,” Bastin said. “Second, we need one of the HOA board members on site to sign the complaint for criminal trespass before we can act. This is problematic during working hours, which is when most of the fishing complaints occur.”

He said the trespass ordinance will allow the police department to take immediate action.

Village Administrator Dan Di Santo noted the topic is discussed quite often during Homeowners Confederation meetings. The Homeowners Confederation meets four times a year with village staff to discuss issues of public safety, development and issues unique to homeowners associations.

“We hear a lot from the Homeowners Confederation that they’d like police assistance in this matter,” Di Santo said. “This is something that they’ve been supportive of.”