By Pat Hatfield
posted Jul 25, 2008 - 10:50:52am
Do good fences make good neighbors?
Maybe not on Sand Crane Lane in Lake Helen.
A neighbors' disagreement came into the public spotlight July 17 when Diego Micheo of 825 Sand Crane Lane told the Lake Helen City Commission his neighbor had installed a metal pole in the road that runs along their properties.
Neighbor Maria Pierce, at 800 Sand Crane Lane, had had workers start digging post holes in and along Sand Crane Lane for a new fence that would be about 20 feet further into the road than her property's existing fence.
Then, Lake Helen Code Enforcement halted the construction, which had begun without a permit, until the easement matter could be resolved.
After that, the metal pole was pounded into the roadway, with a Volusia County Sheriff's Office no-trespassing sign affixed. Micheo said the pole is dangerous, and hard to see at night.
Micheo told city commissioners the pole and the fence Pierce wants to put in would make it difficult for fire and rescue trucks to enter the property of neighbors John and Betty Thompson, who live across the the lane at 815 Sand Crane Lane.
His neighbor, Richard Blum, also spoke at the public meeting.
The fence fight has more twists and turns than a country lane.
The Micheos, Blum, the Thompsons and neighbors Peter and Colleen Kopka and Stefan Kifner spoke to The Beacon July 20.
The road was put in in 1984, before their homes were built, Diego Micheo said.
It was step one in developing a 40-acre parcel. Each piece of property along the lane gave up 20 feet in front, allowing a 20-foot-wide roadway with 10 feet of grass shoulder on either side.
The properties' fences run behind the grassy areas along the lane.
Diego brought out a 1984 plat map of the street, showing the easements meeting at the center of the lane.
But Pierce's attorney wrote the neighbors a letter stating there is no easement on his client's land.
Pierce said she started work on the fence in an effort to protect her property.
"We came home from vacation to find some of our neighbors wanted to move Sand Crane Lane onto our property," she told The Beacon. "Our property line goes to the middle of the road."
Diego Micheo and Peter Kopka said they had put in some stakes, meant to outline where the road is supposed to go.
They said when Kicklighter Road was paved a year or two ago, flooding at the entrance to Sand Crane Lane became a problem. When that was corrected, the entrance to Sand Crane got shifted, leaving a light pole too close to the road's edge. They were trying to mark the lane's original path, they said.
There have been other problems, including an over-the-fence verbal exchange that resulted in the Lake Helen Police being called to the neighborhood.
Now the City of Lake Helen has been drawn into the debate.
City Administrator Don Findell and City Attorney Ken McIntosh, assisted by police and fire officers, determined large trucks, including fire trucks, could still reach the Thompson property, even if a fence were installed along the Pierce side.
But Attorney McIntosh also found evidence the easements do exist. He's asked the city's consulting surveyor to determine exactly where they are.
When the surveyor reports back, probably in about 10 days, the city will be able to determine whether to issue a building permit for the Pierce fence.
The city does not get involved in private disputes, he said.
Administrator Findell agreed. "We don't work for one property owner or the other," he said. "Sometimes, it's a difficult line to walk."
Reader Comments
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NEWS FLASH—you accomplished that task, one-by-one, day-by-day, each-and-everyone, in the last 2 years, 8 months, and 14 days.
At this point all everyone, including -neighbors, county officials, city officials, residents of Lake Helen, residents of Volusia County, and for that matter anyone who has had the misfortune of having any kind of business or personal relationship with you wants to know, when will enough be enough for you.
All that can now be hoped for is that you get a new hobby and find some kind of peace within. Get some sleep, take down the signs and maybe – just maybe after time has pasted and the wounds that you have repeatedly rubbed salt in, have healed, you might – just might, get a wave and not the finger from one of your neighbors on the lane.
If this reporter had been forthright, she would have at least mentioned to you the reader, that you can clearly see the Pierce survey marker right behind Diego Micheo in one of the photographs included in this article and that further more, (another important fact)although the Thompson fence (the Pierces' neighbor across Sand Crane Lane) actually encroaches over 5' into the so-called easement from their [thompson]side, and while the Pierces' are still leaving them over 20' of access on the dirt driveway, the Thompson gate is only a standard 16' farm gate and is the same gate that they have always used for theor property access since the installation of their fnce and gate after building their home several years ago. Clearly that have never before now, been concerned with access on to their property, nor have they ever appeared to need anything over and above 16' access. However, if they ever did, the Thompson property actually begins over 25' at their northeast corner, prior to the Pierce property on Sand Crane Lane and so affords them additional access on to their property with an additional 15' easement / road along their easterly property line. And finally, none of the three individuals interviewed for this article have any legal or otherwise need to cross over the Pierce property for any reason, at any time. As a matter of fact, at least one of the individuals is NOT even residents of the City of Lake Helen! There is nowhere to go past the end of the dirt driveway known as Sand Crane Lane, except directly on to Pierce property and to the Pierce home and therefore no valid reason why the individuals given audience in this tainted, unconfirmed and improperly researched article should come onto the Pierce property without specific invitation from the Pierces. One has to fairly ask; Why would these individuals be trying so hard to get access to the Pierces' if they do not think of them as nice or neighborly. Their motivations could only be for ill-will. Too bad this reporter is unable to see when she is being used to cause malicious harm to unsuspecting and undeserving residents of Volusia County. How shameful of this reporter to allow personal friendships to taint journalism, further inflame a bad situation, and with dishonest intent, paint law abiding individuals in such a light as to cause them undue harm and hurt. Talk about someone who should hang her head in shame!
weeks ago?? what is up with that??
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