NFL football player’s dream is Lake Murray neighbors’ nightmare

It’s a culture clash the likes of which South Carolina rarely sees.

On one side, there is NFL wide receiver Dontrelle Inman, who is used to smashing through defenses and making plans on how to spend the millions he makes.

On the other side are a group of affluent Lake Murray homeowners who want to enjoy the tranquility that comes with owning million-dollar lakeside homes in one of the most pleasant spots in South Carolina. “Privacy and security” are major features of the neighborhood, according to a neighbors’ petition.

Inman’s dream — to use an existing mansion on a 1.85-acre lakefront lot to start a business called The Manor on Lake Murray for weddings, celebrations and parties with helicopters arriving and leaving with special guests — is the neighbors’ nightmare.

Earlier this week, owners of eight residences who live close to Inman’s future Manor filed a lawsuit that seeks to - as an opposing football team would do - block Inman before he gets going.

“A wedding venue is a restaurant, a bar, a music venue and a nightclub with dancing, all rolled into one comprehensive package,” said the neighbors’ lawsuit, which asserted that as many as 750 people at at time could descend on Inman’s Manor for his various events.

Inman’s Manor will bring into the “quiet residential neighborhood crowds, traffic, noise, drinking, property damage, bands, parties and waste,” the lawsuit says.

Inman, 31, who played for the Indianapolis Colts last year and is now a free agent, could not be reached. However, a source connected to him said the football player takes seriously neighbors’ concerns and is considering measures to deal with them, such as using a boat to ferry event guests and using Porta Potties for events so as not to overload the small neighborhood’s septic station. The source did not want to be identified because of the litigation.

And, the source said, Inman does not wish to discuss the lawsuit in the press but will certainly answer the lawsuit in court and has legal representation.

“It (The Manor) is not even open yet,” the source said, adding that Inman — who graduated from Batesburg-Leesville High School in Lexington County — has also done numerous charitable and community outreaches in the Columbia area.

Already, Inman has launched an internet site, www.lakemurraymanor.com, and started to book weddings and other events at the property, the lawsuit says. He has also hired a Los Angeles-based public relations and consulting firm to promote the business.

Inman’s property is on Laguna Vista Drive, located several miles west of I-26 near Irmo and the Ballentine section. The 5,370-square-foot home and 1,700-square-foot pool house were built in 1985. The gated manor has five master suites, 8.5 baths, a cigar room, bar, great room, outdoor gazebo, two swimming pools, a private dock and more than 500 feet of waterfront.

Since buying the house in 2018 for $950,000, Inman has invested about $250,000 in renovations, his publicist Charisse Curtis told a State reporter late last year.

A large waterfront lawn in the backyard was planned with wedding ceremonies in mind. Inman had the grassy plain graded so “everyone’s viewpoint is visually on the bride,” just raked enough so all attendees can see the big moment, he said.

Allowing weddings on Inman’s property would generate significant “commercial traffic for food vendors, flower suppliers, party planners, furniture suppliers, photographers, musicians and all other associated trades and services which accompany the staging of (such) an event,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit also says, “On Sunday, March 1, 2020, Defendants brought a helicopter to their property to test bringing the anticipated wedding couples to the property for a grand entrance or exit.”

Other assertions in the lawsuit:

▪ The property is zoned residential under the Richland County Zoning Ordinance and a business cannot be operated there.

▪ Inman’s property is only supposed to be used as a single-family dwelling.

▪ After buying the house, Inman put the property in the name of his mother, Jeannette Washington.

▪ Inman does not have a business license.

▪ Inman has not conducted a traffic study, a noise study or consulted with authorities to see whether he can hire helicopters and boats to bring large numbers of people to his property for his business venture.

Lawyers for the neighbors are seeking an injunction to stop Inman from going ahead with any plans to use the property as a business.

A hearing on the injunction is scheduled for Friday, said Eric Bland, the neighbors’ attorney. Bland’s co-counsel is State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, who is offering his legal services for free because the neighbors are his constituents.

This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 3:27 PM with the headline "NFL football player’s dream is Lake Murray neighbors’ nightmare."