Poet Robert Frost wrote in 1914, “good fences make good neighbours.” He never mentioned whether bad fences make bad neighbours, but a year-long issue in Paradise might offer some insight.
Paradise homeowner Neil Kelly said he and his neighbour used to be friends, but today they don’t speak at all. The friendship soured because of issues with a fence between the two properties.
Standing on his back deck that sits half-ripped apart around an empty pool, Kelly holds a thick stack of papers — correspondence with the Town of Paradise about his fence.
In the paperwork, however, there’s little mention of fences. Instead, it’s called a “retaining structure.”
According to Kelly, his neighbour backfilled against his fence in order to widen a driveway. The fence is connected to a deck surrounding a pool, and stress on the structure pushed against Kelly’s house, causing damage to the siding.
Kelly has been back and forth with the town about the issue since July of last year.
In emails last year, Kelly wrote it was causing undue stress on his family, and the town’s “inaction is causing further damage to my property and the backfill needs to be removed so I can begin repairs before the winter weather sets in.”
The town sent a letter to Kelly on July 21, 2017 with the title referencing a “retaining wall constructed without permits.” In the letter, the town acknowledged the structure was in a “state of failure” and “may be a safety issue,” and therefore the town required Kelly to remove it within two weeks of receiving the letter.
The situation was nearly rectified, except it was soon found out that part of the fence went onto his neighbour’s property, so the town said it became a boundary dispute, with which they don’t get involved.
In an email dated Oct. 31, a town employee advised Kelly the town had no intention of having any further involvement in the matter, even though Kelly expressed concerns about safety.
“They keep saying nobody had a permit to put up the retaining structure, but it was a fence — and I had a permit for my fence,” said Kelly. “It’s out to lunch what they’re trying to say here. (My neighbour) had no permit to backfill, which basically he should have been told back last July once we raised the issue, ‘Well, you never had a permit to put that backfill in, get it out of there.’”
When The Telegram asked Paradise Mayor Dan Bobbett why the town didn’t tell the neighbour in the beginning to remove the backfill, Bobbett said the town had no proof the neighbour put the backfill there.
“We have no proof one way or the other who put what where,” said Bobbett. “This is what Mr. Kelly is saying, his neighbour did it, right? So, did he do it? Or, did it fall down there, or did it after the fact? I have no way of knowing.”
Issue still ongoing
Since Kelly first complained of safety issues with the fence nearly a year ago, the issue is still not resolved.
Bobbett said the town doesn’t get involved in civil matters unless there’s a possibility of a safety issue.
“As soon as we were told there was a safety issue, we investigated and we had a structural engineer come in and look at it, and look at if there was any safety concerns there.”
The retaining wall inspection report states the site visit occurred on May 2, 2018 — nearly a year after Kelly first wrote to the town expressing safety concerns.
Paradise Coun. Paul Dinn brought the issue up during council meetings and said the ordeal went on too long.
“You try to give each neighbour the opportunity to have their say, and do what’s best for the neighbours, but at the same time, what’s the safest solution here? It’s just one unfortunate situation that’s dragged on.”
Dinn called it “red tape at its finest.”
“Regardless of a boundary dispute, there should have been a solution perhaps sooner rather than later. … I think sometimes common sense has to prevail in these instances because you can go by policies, but you have to go back to what the intent of policies were and look at the common sense approach in some cases.”
Work order extended
On May 18 the town issued orders to both Kelly and his neighbour, citing “concerns with safety and integrity of the structure.”
The town ordered Kelly’s neighbour — who did not respond to The Telegram’s interview request — to remove the backfill by June 1, and ordered Kelly to then remove the fence within two weeks.
The order states the town considered both property owners responsible for the “unauthorized retaining structure including the placement of the backfill.”
The orders were issued after the town sent outside inspectors to review the safety of the structure.
The inspection found that “deformation of the existing structure will continue until a bulk failure occurs,” an event which is “highly probable” and therefore the structure “should be replaced in the near future.”
The report notes that a visual assessment of the area was enough to determine that the fence was failing.
The report notes the uphill side of the structure was backfilled to a height ranging from four to five feet.
The report lists possible consequences of failure, including “stress and movement of the downhill decking and fence now pressing into the siding of the downhill home in several locations” and “cracks in the backfill/driveway on the uphill side.”
Kelly said he was happy to get the orders so he could finally fix the fence and deck and get his pool ready for the summer. He said he’s been unable to complete work on the deck around his pool because he could not get a permit to do the work from the town due to this ongoing issue.
However, Kelly’s neighbour requested an extension getting the backfill removed, and the town complied.
The backfill now doesn’t need to be removed until July 1, after which Kelly can do the work on his side of the property.
Kelly wonders if the town is trying to punish him for his participation with a concerned citizens’ group that has seen him “knock heads” with council on some issues.
“You know, the old cliché, ‘You can’t fight city hall,” he said.
Bobbett said that is “absolutely not” the case, reiterating the town is dealing with the situation “as per policy.”
Meanwhile, Kelly said his family may as well forget using the back deck or pool this summer — and that’s the least of his concerns.
“The longer this goes on, the more damage to my property. This is ludicrous for (council) to even consider extending this deadline,” said Kelly.
Perhaps the Paradise neighbours will find a lesson in Frost’s “Mending Wall.” Either way, Kelly hopes his fence will soon be mended.
Twitter: @juanitamercer_
