November 14, 2008
Mr. & Mrs. Blevins
6 Brackley Circle
Fairport, NY 14450
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Blevins,
In the 20 years since our community, Southern Hills, was developed, we have enjoyed a proud tradition of family oriented community, full of friendly neighbors, and with lots of children and pets enjoying each others company while respectful of each others properties. It is with this proud tradition in mind, that we, your neighbors, are so disappointed with your choice to install such a massive fence.
As you may have noticed, Southern Hills is largely void of fences. The ample yards and the beautiful rolling landscape create a lovely “park-like” setting that has come to identify Southern Hills. Any fences that have been installed are typically small and/or close-set to the house. Usually as small yards for pet safety. Of course, many others have chosen to use invisible fences for pet safety. The stark contrast created by your fence, however, creates a disruption to the Southern Hills identity. Especially a stockade fence, which creates isolation, and gives the impression that you don’t wish to be part of our community. This fence divides our once-beautiful open area in the dozens of back yards bordered by Cannock Drive, Kirkby Trail, Brackley Circle, Chenin Run and Chardonnay Drive.
Neighbors spoke with you as you were considering installing your fence, and shared the community view on fences. Still others felt strongly enough to create and sign a petition, which we have attached to this letter. [Download the .pdf file of the letter and petition.] In the spirit of maintaining the proud tradition of Southern Hills, we respectfully request that you remove this fence. If you are unwilling to consider this, please at least landscape around the fence to soften its stark appearance.
We hope you will view this note and petition in the manner it was intended, as candid and honest feedback from neighbors who care deeply about their community. Most of all, we are hopeful you will act on this feedback.
Sincerely,
Your Neighbors
cc: Jim Smith, Perinton Town Supervisor
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Southern Hills Petition
FREEDOM KNOWS NO FENCES
We, the undersigned neighbors of Southern Hills, hereby protest the installation of a stockade style fence at 6 Brackley Circle. The Southern Hills neighborhood has a proud 20+ year tradition, built upon respect of each other, our families and our properties. Throughout these years, the Southern Hills neighbors have enjoyed the bonds of community, while free of the bonds brought by fences or boundaries. Each of our neighborhood members has taken great pride in their properties, attentive to details of lawn and garden, yet open for all to enjoy.
The undersigned neighbors of Southern Hills, respectfully request the immediate removal of this fence.
I think you should build the fence bigger
Ironically, there is no regulation on height in Perinton. I went to the town prior to even getting the builders out for quotes and there isn’t even the requirement that a permit be granted. The only requirement in Perinton at the moment is that the “nice” side has to be facing out.
Hrm. That’s an awful lot of names.
If I were in your position, I would perceive much more of a threat from the neighborhood than I would think I was exhibiting w/my pretty fence.
Also, by what measure is this fence ‘massive’.
Here are some fences I might consider ‘massive’, and definitely dwarf your fence:
http://bit.ly/bigfence
http://bit.ly/largefence
http://bit.ly/waterfence
Pete, any of those in your links would have been legal in Perinton. In order for us to adopt Grace and Tucker from the Glen Highlands Farm Border Collie Rescue, we were required to have a solid fence around at least three-fourths of an acre and no less than six feet tall. We shopped for our house for almost 2 years to find something in the area that met these conditions. It never occured to me to ask neighbors if it was OK with them before we bought our yard.
What about ‘good fences make good neighbors?’
It seems that in Southern Hills, freedom’s just another word for ‘do it our way’!
It’s mindless for them not to acknowledge the reason for the fence….as well as the fact that you did everything with total respect for the rules.
Come on down to our neck of the woods!
We know how to truly respect our neighbors!
That is infuriating.
Emily, the fence guy said that “up here in Rochester” most fences are built BECAUSE of the neighbors. The truth is that there aren’t very many houses with fences up here. In two years we visited over 100 houses and maybe ten of them had fences. I can’t imagine having Border Collies, much less two of them, without a fence. When I first had Maxine years ago, I didn’t have a fence, but I was next to 500 acres of an Army base so it wasn’t an issue.
Lois, Bobby McGee is such a great song – maybe one of my favorites. The economy, GM and the American auto industry, the financial crisis and the credit crunch for main street businesses, gas prices, the war in Iraq, our 401K’s – There are so many other things to worry about these days than putting this much effort into bothering a neighbor that chose to put a fence in their back yard so they could rescue a couple of dogs.
There are still countries in the world where people can dictate to others what to do with their own property — fortunately, the United States is not completely within that socialist realm.
I guess your neighbors never read Robert Frost.
I suggest you print that poem and mail to the neighbors who signed the petition.
Oh my goodness!!! Your neighbors need to get a life and stop worrying about what others are doing on their OWN PROPERTY. How Selfish!!!! What a way to welcome you to their “friendly” neighborhood. Yankees! Wow, our English Springer Spaniel can literally jump our 6 foot fence and we had to extend it higher. Why don’t you just let the collies out to run and mess on their property! The whole reason we built our fence higher was so that our dog would not bother our neighbors!
It seems pitiful for your neighbors to even consider that you did something terrible. You did not violate any law/regulation for the area and you checked it all out before even having it put up. I agree with Bonnie that you actually are doing them a favor so that your collies are not so inclined to mess up their yards. The fence looks nice and I know that you will properly maintain it so they have nothing to worry about. And the statement…”please at least landscape around the fence to soften its stark appearance”…cracks me up. If YOU CHOOSE to do so then fine. Otherwise, maybe they can take up a collection and give to you to provide the landscaping. Sounds like they have too much time on their hands to worry about others and should kept to themselves. They are not showing that this is such a friendly neighborhood. I’d be glad I had the fence now.
Sounds like to me you have a “busybody” on your hands who is mad because she cannot
rule the neighborhood. The fence looks great! Does she have a dog? If so does it run loose?I would rather have a fence in her yard than her dog using my flowers and yard for her pets bathroom. Barbara and Jeff must not have much of a life to be standing in their back door watching what you are doing everyday.
Wow. I find the petition a little ridiculous. You and Tracy have two large dogs that you don’t want venturing near a busy street. They are also smart dogs who would learn really quick that there are ways around the invisible fence. I.E. running really fast through the inv. fence to avoid getting shocked.
I say you two have some brandy, grab some rolls of tp and pay a visit to the executor of that petition/letter. <– i kid, kinda.
Thank God for neighbors like yours. How would subdivisions survive without the watchful eye of the fence police?
As owners of real estate,your bundle of rights includes the right to quiet enjoyment. I say a large concrete seahorse bird bath and maybe a couple of plastic pink flamingos for the front yard may add to that enjoyment.
I wonder if those invisible fences keep their little children safe…..
Have you and Tracy considered installing a dome? It’s the next logical step, and nowadays they have the nice domes with retractable roofs so you can enjoy sunny days. I also think you should withdraw from the neighborhood and start your own. You’d be like Canada.
I’ve had neighbors do things I didn’t like, but I don’t believe this is how you treat people. Good luck.
(You’re my hero! I thought I was the only one in this crowd old enough to be a Janis Joplin fan!)
But back to your Pod-People Neighbors: Clearly you’ve tons of support from all of us commenters.
How about we get up our own “Free the Blevins from Tyranny” petition and send it ‘right back at them’.
Lois,
Loved your idea of starting our own campaign so I created a “Good Neighbors” cause on my facebook page. Thanks!
Bill and Tracy,
It sounds like they are bullies bordering upon getting into trouble legally. Property owners have rights too.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind you about the wonderful weather you left in the sunny South, as well as the nice people.
Kathy
BTW: I wouldn’t use the words “pet safety” and “invisible fence” in the same sentence. Your neighbors reveal themselves as cruel and inhumane to their pets.
Hi Tracy,
Awesome! and I hope _we_ all get a lot of traction for you on this!
As many commentors have expressed: how sad that a bunch of otherwise probably decent people, can spend their time trying to tear down, rather than build up others.
Decorate that fence with lights….and hearts and flowers…..Maybe they’ll ‘get the message’ then!
A friend emailed this idea:
Dear neighbors,
We decided to raise a fence due to several incidents that happened at our last home…
Our bulldogs Ellie and Jethro some how got thru the invisible fence and chewed the tires off the neighbors SUV then did a number on his artifical leg.
We like to have spare parts for the truck on hand so we keep a couple of wrecked ones in the backyard, some of our past neighbors didn’t appreciate these colllectibles.
One occassion the holy ghost will hit grandma and she would run out the backdoor naked and tour the neighborhood, many didn’t appreciate her visits.
Are you sure you want the fence removed?
Where do I start? I am sure that I won’t be able to say anything that hasn’t already been said with eloquence, but here goes anyway!
Using common sense, they weren’t around when you were making arrangements to pay for your home, so, that is that.
People with such an eye for what a neighborhood should look like should have set forth the rules of beauty 20+ years ago. That didn’t happen, so, that is that.
All beautiful paintings and pictures have frames. Congratulations, you have framed yours perfectly.
The idea that you have done something “to” the neighborhood is simply ridiculous. You have improved the home life that you enjoy as a family. How can that possibly detract from the neighborhood? It isn’t a chain link fence with the plastic strips running through it to block the view.
I will close with this, even though I could continue for much longer, I pity this poor woman. As for the rest of the clones she has following her, I am of the opinion that this group of followers would have complimented you on a beautiful fence had she not gotten to them first. Good grief, have a back bone and think for yourselves. You know I’m right, and you know who I am talking to.
I just noticed on my way home tonight that 21 Kirkby has a “massive” (that means, just like ours) wooden fence too and the woman at that address signed the petition!!
Bill & Tracy,
Your house is beautiful. People need to mind their own business. Having a fence in your yard is not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. I hope these people realize this. Keep your heads up and don’t let anyone get the best of you. Bill- you are one of the nicest people I know. If these people knew you, they would not be acting like this.
Down with neighbors.
What is “Freedom Knows No Fences”………an Oxymoron!!! —-and definitely not FREEDOM !!!!!
I totally agree with Bonnie….except “Southerners” are just as bad as “Yankees”.
Can’t believe all those men went along with that “Woman”!! You know they don’t care about a fence.
Whew………………. she’s scary.
I think you should see how strongly they feel about their beloved setting. It sounds like they have mentally annexed the property before you “owned” it.
You should send a response to them offering each a 1/36th interest in the community park they perceive they are entitled to and of which you have deprived them. At say $10 grand each, they could have their desired open space and have full control.
You set up a 501(c) corp and act as the super. Better yet, set up a 501(c)(13) – Cemetery.
My guess is the dogs will be taking care of the landscaping!
We’ll have a “Festival of the Terminalia” party on the 23rd of February.
Not to question to voracity of Barbara and Jeffery Barteld’s aesthetic eyes, however, I looked at Google Maps at picture of their house and it looks like their next door neighbors are apartments. Nothing wrong with that but it doesn’t quite fit the description in the letter. People often put up fences to block neighboring apartments!
You should take the fence down and get pit bulls. Let them roam freely in the proud tradition of pit bulls, as they were meant to and keep the beautiful streets and hills free of pesky eyesores like kids, squirrels and Jeffery Barteld in his plaid golf pants. Then the once beautiful Southern Hills can be restored and the disruption of its identity can be over.
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I knew there was a reason I left Fairport to live in the country – NEIGHBORS! Who needs them, especially the “fence police” kind. I love the pit bull idea, there are plenty who need rescuing and I think they would need at least a 12 foot fence…….. FYI the house next to me is for sale and it comes with 4 acres. Your border collies would fit in nicely with my horses and my rescue dog and cat. Welcome!
RottenNeighbors.com looks like they went out of business. Updated the post to delete broken links.
I’m in your neigborhood and think your fence is swanky. Really.
Come UP the hill. All the cool people live there!
It’s a small world! Came across this site completely by accident. We adopted border collies from Glen Highland Farm as well. Before adopting our first we installed an electric fence around ours and our neighbor’s yard(he was getting a dog as well). Fortunately for us Tag did require a fence but not a hard fence. Life was fine for a while but our neighbor works long hours and would leave his dog outside in a small kennel a lot. We would feel guilty every time we took Tag out to play while the other dog sat there watching and whining. We decided that we needed to put up a hard fence because it just felt too cruel. I was worried that the neighbor would be upset with us but he was totally ok. Funny thing was, the guy on the other side of him wasn’t happy because “he could no longer see what was going on in our yard”. I swear that’s what our next door neighbor quoted him saying.
The next thing to happen was that several of our other neighbors who had very little children(2,3,4 yrs of age) insisted on letting them out to play unsupervised. On MANY occasions the kids would come into our yard despite the fact that we had asked them and their parents to not let this happen. Tag has strong herding instincts and will nip at heels(esp small children) of people he doesn’t know. We became increasingly worried. So we then decided to put up a hard fence on the other side of the yard as well. My step daughter was younger then and would play with the girl next door sometimes on the weekends. That neighbor, who let their younger child out w/o supervision(3yr) actually asked us if we were going to install a door to the already erected fence we had just put up, so the kids could go back and forth! Proving only that they were even more clueless than we believed.
The kids are all a little older now and as far as we can tell they no longer enter the yard uninvited. They of course still stand out on the side walk and bark at the dogs or taunt them in other ways, we now have two rescues. But we really don’t want to have to fence in the entire yard and if we did fence in closer up to the house then that would make the yard much smaller for the dogs which is not acceptable to us.
Anyway, just thought I’d share our story.