Neighbors' fence feud continues near Lombard

A fence that has spawned one brawl, three trips to the hospital, one arrest and one lawsuit is two feet too tall.

The DuPage County Board this week unanimously denied Tony Fiasche's request to keep his hastily constructed wood fence at eight feet. County ordinances prohibit fences taller than six feet in residential areas. Fences in commercial districts can be eight feet.

Half of Fiasche's property where he stores work equipment in an unincorporated area near Lombard is zoned residential. That's the half that abuts a home owned by Don Daniszewski and Barb MacMillan.

The two sides have been feuding for months over the fence, Fiasche's wetlands and other issues.

Fiasche built the fence to keep his neighbors out, he said. And while he attempts to rezone the entire parcel commercial, he's leaving the fence alone.

"I'm not trimming anything down," he said. "When I rezone it commercial it will be the right height."

County officials say he has 30 days to reduce the height or face a fine.

"He's got an eight-foot fence where something is allowed to only be six feet," said Rich Killebrew, the county's regulatory services manager. "We're just going to enforce the rules and whatever he does in the future is something else."

Killebrew was unaware of Fiasche's attempts to rezone his property and was unsure what bearing it would have on the fence issue.

The fence is in county board member J.R. McBride's district and he believes it should be shortened to comply with the law.

"He shouldn't have built (the fence) until his property was totally zoned commercial," McBride said. "That would be like you or me buying size 34 waist pants and hoping we're going to get down to that before we start the diet."

While Fiasche is required to shorten the fence, he is not required to turn the fence panels around so the more attractive side is facing his neighbors. Unlike most municipal laws that dictate which direction a fence faces, DuPage doesn't specify that, Killebrew said. McBride said he would investigate drafting stricter fence laws to combat such issues in the future.

Hundreds of nails were left sticking through the side of the fence that faces Fiasche's neighbors when it was constructed last month. MacMillan injured herself in a fall against the fence while gardening, requiring a trip to the hospital to treat her injuries. She sued Fiasche, claiming negligence.

When Fiasche's brother, Simon, attempted to remove the barbs a few days later, MacMillan called sheriff's deputies to complain about him trespassing. He was arrested.

On Aug. 30, a crew hired by Fiasche to sheer the barbs off the fence panels got into a brawl with Daniszewski. Deputies were called to break up the fight.

Daniszewski and Simon Fiasche both went to the hospital for treatment afterward. Both sides say the other instigated the fight. It was the third time that day deputies had been dispatched to the location.

No arrests have been made in connection with the fight. Sheriff's officials did not respond to requests seeking updates on the investigation.

"They said no one's been arrested because everyone's giving them different stories," Daniszewski said. "I don't care how you look at it, four guys jumping one guy is mob action and that's a crime."

Tony Fiasche said his brother suffered a concussion when Daniszewski kicked him in the head.

"My brother's not going to jail," Tony Fiasche said.

Some county officials expressed concern about the ongoing hostilities between the neighbors.

"I will let my staff know we have some problems out there so that they can be safe," said county board member Kyle Gilgis, who heads the development committee that handled Fiasche's request.

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