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Fence will let Largo set park's property line
By TIMES EDITORIAL
Published July 10, 2007
It is said that fences make good neighbors. That might be especially true when the interests of neighbors aren't the same. A dispute over a proposed fence is brewing in Largo. Typically, residents approach their city governments to demand fences to protect them from something - an unpleasant view, dust, noise, the unwashed public. But one Largo neighborhood is fighting against a fence. The city wants to erect it. The residents don't want it. The residents' back yards connect with Largo's John R. Bonner Nature Park. Ever since the park was created in the 1980s, the residents have had an open view of and open access to it. They can just walk out their back doors, across their back yards and into the park. According to the city, residents gradually began to take advantage of the situation, putting in landscaping and installing play equipment - even a basketball hoop - on park property until the boundary between the park and the yards was no longer delineated. The issue came to a head recently when park users complained that they had been intimidated by a resident's dog running up to them on the park's nature trail. Largo's acting city manager, Norton Craig, decided that putting up a chain-link fence was the best solution, but first, the city would have to get the land surveyed to find the true boundary line. Several residents, including one who said he spent $10,000 planting oak trees behind his house, say a fence would interfere with their view of the park, their access to the park, and the beauty of their back yards. After the survey is completed, Craig will ask the City Commission for a decision. The residents who oppose the fence are acting in their own self-interest, which is served by not having a visible line between the end of their yards and the park. However, the city, represents a larger public interest. And it is clearly in the public's best interest to have Bonner Park protected by a fence in this area. Loose dogs protecting what they think, incorrectly, is their territory can be a real hazard to park users. The city would be derelict in its duty not to respond to that threat. A larger issue is that it is not proper for a handful of private property owners to appropriate public property for their own use. Bonner Park - all of it - belongs to the public. Park visitors should have access to all usable parts of the property. They currently are misled about where the park boundary lies, just because of the way landscaping and grass have been planted or play equipment positioned by homeowners. Many area parks have fences to separate private land use from public property. The time has come to erect one at Bonner too.
[Last modified July 10, 2007, 07:26:56]
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by Alex
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07/12/07 10:31 PM
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I've had the complaining homeowner's dogs as well as others run up to me. Due to the curves on the trail, the dog is on top of you before you or the owner, if present, knows someone is on the path. Stepping in dog poop is a problem too.
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by Sam
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07/12/07 09:00 PM
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The fence is next door to the complaining homeowner. On the property appraiser's website, the fence looks way inside the park's property line.
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by Amy
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07/11/07 12:05 PM
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I just wanted to say that the picture of the property you showed in the paper does already have a fence and they are not the dog owners. Some people should go take a look at the situation for themselves before they start making negative remarks.
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by Kay
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07/11/07 10:43 AM
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How about let the property owners install fences of their own chosing, at their expense, but they must be on their own property. That way, the city saves money and the residents can have a gate to access the park.
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by Dave
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07/10/07 09:10 PM
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The fence would not have happened if the owners had been considerate of others. So it's their own doing.
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by Doug
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07/10/07 06:12 PM
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I agree with Sally What kind of idiot plants $10k in trees on someone elses property and then whines to the newspaper. Better make it a donation and deduct it from taxes because you won't be able to claim it as an improvment when you sell.
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by Paul
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07/10/07 02:43 PM
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Leave it to a small number of owners to ruin it for the rest. Unfortunately, the response of a dog owner usually is, "he won't hurt you". It does not matter! Animals off private property need to under the control of the owner which was not the case
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by Sally
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07/10/07 12:49 PM
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No brainer. Put in the chain link fence. When the dog finally bites someone, you'll be sued for way more than the cost of the fence or the guy's $10K on trees. That's his problem for not planting on his own property.
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by Karen
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07/10/07 11:27 AM
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I have to wonder how these homeowners would feel if the public started useing their playground equipment or hanging out in their back yards. then all of a sudden they would be screaming for a fence.
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by Winston
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07/10/07 10:37 AM
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Wonder how upset the homeowners would be if joggers or visiters went across their property?
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