Barrington Hills neighbors disagree over fence blocking road
The Barrington Hills man who erected a fence that blocks access to his neighbor's home said he's offered to help pay for a new driveway at a different spot as a means of settlement.
"All I want to do is use my land within the rules of the village," Rick Hardy said.
The Daily Herald had tried unsuccessfully to reach Hardy for comment for a story on the fence dispute earlier this week. He said in an interview Friday that he wanted to correct some of the impressions left by the story.
"I've tried at my expense to find settlements, and there's still a settlement on the table," he said. "Frankly, I don't understand why it hasn't been settled. I don't see how I can do any more."
He said his offer to build a driveway on southern portion of his property was rejected and suggested that his neighbors want him to pay the entire cost of construction. The offer came after 30 hours of negotiations with attorneys over the course of almost a year, he added.
The fence went up on Aug. 9 and removal of the road began last week, but Hardy said he sent a letter more than two months ago on June 24 to his neighbor, Joseph Evans, about his plans. Evans acknowledged receipt of the letter in an interview Friday.
The fence blocks off a road that crosses over both neighbors' property. Evans routinely used the road to drive to his home. Since the fence went up, he said he now parks his car at a neighbor's place and crosses through that land.
Hardy purchased the property on the 100 block of Brinker Road in April 2009. He rents it to a tenant who he said needs the fence to enclose the parcel to keep rescue horses. One horse, named Rodney, is already there, but there are more on the way. He reviewed records that he said show he's within his rights to put up the fence.
"I checked and confirmed that Mr. Evans did not have an easement," Hardy said. "They said there's some kind of common-law easement. We don't agree, and we invited them to file suit in court."
That irks Evans, who said an arrangement between neighbors has existed for almost nine decades before Hardy purchased the property.
"It's been that way for 88 years," Evans said. "Every single person that owned this house and owned his house shared that drive."
According to Hardy, Evans agreed to the latest settlement offer, but a third neighbor, Jack Reich objected. Hardy said he offered to pay up to $8,000 for a driveway on another part of his property, which would cross all three neighbors' properties. Hardy said he offered to pay 50 percent of the cost, with Evans and Reich splitting the remaining half.
Reich would not comment on any offers that were made.
"It's inappropriate to talk about negotiations in the media," Reich said. "It's difficult to try to work out a settlement when one neighbor (Hardy) has taken unilateral actions before a settlement can be reached."
Evans acknowledged he's discussed settlements with Hardy's attorneys, but said he wasn't sure if they were in good faith. "I've only met with him (Hardy) once, and that was early spring," Evans said.
There is an easement through Reich's land that could provide Evans alternate access to his property, but that road's covered with sod and fire officials have said that precipitation would make that path difficult for emergency vehicles to use. Hardy's attorney, Robert O'Donnell, suggested that road had been sodded over some time back to eliminate it as a route.
All three neighbors agree that a compromise is possible.
"Evans would settle this thing in a heartbeat if his neighbors would let him," Hardy said.
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