Do Good Fences Make Good Neighbors?
Wally the Steer has been the center of attention lately, and not just because he marched down the street during the 2007 Hugo Good Neighbor Days parade.
In late June his owner, Hugo resident Karyl Hylle, was given a citation for “unnecessary noise,” specifically referencing Wally’s mooing. KARE 11 News, CNN and Good Morning America all picked up the story. Twin Cities radio host Joe Soucheray took comments during his daily program, and Wally made the front page of the Pioneer Press.
Hylle was cited by the Washington County Sheriff’s Department after a neighbor, Mark, who asked that we not print his last name, lodged 21 complaints over a period of two-and-a-half years about loud noises from dogs and livestock, and loose animals.
For a violation of Chapter 200-4, Subd. 11 of Hugo’s City Code, Hylle could have been fined $1,000 or served 90 days in jail. After a review of the case, however, Tom Weidner, Hugo city prosecutor, sent a letter to Washington County District Court on July 3 dismissing all charges, “in hopes that the neighbors can work out their differences without judicial intervention,” Weidner said. Deputies “tried to mediate a solution previously, which failed,” he added.
Mark stated that he and his wife didn’t want Hylle to be cited but, instead, just wanted the noise to stop.
Concerns revolve around the late-night timing of Wally’s mooing, which appears to coincide with the cow’s later-than-normal feeding schedule.
While this may first appear to be humorous, it illustrates the friction that can occur where adjoining land uses vary.
Contrary to recent news reports, Hylle’s 33-acre property is zoned Rural Residential – not Agricultural. Hugo Ordinance 1195-420 states that she can keep more than two dozen head of domestic livestock: one for the first 5 acres, and 1 for each acre thereafter. Her neighbor across the fence owns a much smaller parcel, zoned as Future Urban Service, to be served someday by municipal water and sewer.
At the time Hugo’s last Comprehensive Plan was put together in 1996, the city was designated as a “rural [trade] center,” or as predominantly agricultural. Since then, much of this area has transitioned to residential and hobby farm uses and the city has more than doubled in population. Not everyone keeps livestock these days – although those who do have their own theories about how to deal with Wally.
Hugo resident Harvey Schletz, who also owns a Jersey steer, recommended having a radio nearby for company, a technique used by some dairy farmers to keep peace in the barn. Cow-owner Katie Riopel thought Wally might be lonely and that Hylle could resolve the issue by bulking up her herd.
But Mark says Wally, whom he calls “a pet,” wasn’t a problem when the steer was kept in another enclosure farther from the house, except that Wally kept escaping through the fence into his back yard.
“I offered to help reinforce the fence,” Mark said, adding, “It’s a perfectly resolvable issue.” But instead, Wally was moved to a more secure paddock nearer the neighbors’ bedroom window.
Conflicts between competing land uses and lifestyle interests aren’t always resolved by a good fence, however. And when the issue is further complicated by a dispute over property lines, fences are even less likely to make the problem go away.
Hugo Mayor Fran Miron and Council Member Chuck Haas attempted to arrange a meeting with both parties last week, but Mark was unwilling to meet if Hylle and her parents, who own the property, were present.
“Why is it they throw this out of court … without any mediation, and then have a meeting two days after that?” he asked. “A person should have a right to a little peace and quiet.”
Hylle plans to put up a solid wood privacy fence “to get some separation between our properties … to act as a sound barrier, ” adding that she also intends to fence an area “out back” for Wally during the summer months. But Hylle says Wally “has to be up by the barn” during the winter for shelter, 100 feet from Mark’s bedroom window.
By that time, perhaps we’ll know whether a good fence is all it’s reputed to be.