Despite mounting fines woman won't remove screen put up to block view of neighbor's home
A woman from Thetford, Vermont, erected a 60-foot by 24-foot barrier
obstructing her view of her neighbor's new home.
Ruth Dwyer has lived on her 200-plus acre farm in for more than 40
years.
For almost all of that time, Dwyer said she and her 150 animals had most
of the surrounding area to themselves.
That changed two years ago with the construction of a new home across
the street, overlooking her farm.
“Everything that goes on over there is taking place in a way that it
distracts the livestock because of the location of all the activity, and
it's very close. There never used to be any activity there. It's all
normal activity for a house. It's just not normal for my livestock,”
Dwyer said, adding she has no ill will towards her neighbors.
Dwyer recalled one instance when she was loading one of her horses onto a
van and it was spooked by a child who had come outside to play
basketball in her neighbor's driveway, which she said was clearly
visible from her barn.
“I knew it was going to be a problem,” Dwyer said.
So she planted cedar trees on her property line, but said they’ll take
years to grow tall enough to block the view of her neighbors’ activity.
In November, she built what she described as a ‘temporary screen’ to
shield her view.
“I had a friend who's a contractor and he said, ‘You know, I could put
up a piece of fabric between some telephone poles and we'll brace it and
that's it,’” Dwyer said.
Once the structure was up, town officials took notice.
Thetford zoning director Mary Ellen Parkman said she notified Dwyer in
November that she needed to apply for a building permit for the
structure.
Under Thetford zoning laws, any wall or fence more than 10 feet tall
requires a building permit. Dwyer said her structure doesn’t fall into
those categories, therefore it does not violate any rules.
“It’s not a wall, it’s not a fence, it’s a screen for livestock
control,” Dwyer said.
Parkman said Dwyer applied for a building permit in December, which was
denied in February because “it did not fit the character of the
neighborhood.”
Parkman said at that point, the ‘screen’ became an ‘illegal structure.’
Dwyer said she considered other options, like installing a solar array
or building a more permanent fixture, like a barn. However, she said
those options aren’t economically feasible for her, and she didn’t want
something to stay there long-term.
"That’s why I built a temporary structure,” Dwyer said.
In early March, Parkman sent Dwyer a violation notice, fining her $200 each day that her structure remains on her property.
Those fines have now accumulated to more than $15,000.
Regardless of what the structure is categorized as, her neighbor,
Patrick Perry, who lives across the road, said it’s an unpleasant sight.
“I think it's one of those things when you first see it, you're sort of
struck by the size of it,” Perry said.
Perry moved into the neighborhood about 18 months ago. He said Dwyer’s
screen doesn’t make him feel at home.
“I think 'unwelcoming' is probably the best way to describe how it feels
being on this side of the wall,” Perry said.
Despite the daily fine and her neighbor's concerns, Dwyer said the
screen isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
She said she’s going to keep fighting to keep the structure up until her
cedar trees grow tall enough to block the view of her neighbors’
activities.
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