Is
it a cactus or a rude gesture? Utah neighbors differ on home decoration
By Paul Fraughton, The Salt Lake
Tribune/AP
8/23/2006
Utah's Stan Torgersen looks at the back of a home being built by
neighbor Darren Wood with a sign on the vent that he and his neighbors
find offensive.
RIVERTON, Utah (AP) — An air vent cover on the side of a house looks
like it might be an obscene hand gesture. Then again, it might be an
abstract cactus.
It depends if you're the owner or a neighbor.
"This kind of shows the attitude that we've been dealing with all
along," said Stan Torgersen, whose back windows have a view of the vent.
The acrimony began last fall, when Darren Wood's lot was excavated for
a home construction project.
Torgersen was worried that the excavation might damage his home's
foundation, so he and another neighbor asked the city to intervene.
Officials in Riverton, 20 miles south of Salt Lake City, ordered a soil
test, something Wood said had been done by the previous owner. A new
test, he said, would delay the project by four months and cost $3,000.
More recently, the Torgersens and another neighbor complained to the
city that the home exceeded the height allowed by code.
"We used to have a view of the mountains," Janet Torgersen told The
Salt Lake Tribune recently. "He didn't have to take everyone's view."
Wood conceded the house might be over the limit by a little more than a
foot. But once the house is finished, and the soil and landscaping laid
out, he believes it will be within regulations.
Plus, he added, the city approved the house plan.
"I think the bottom line is harassment," Wood said of his neighbors'
grievances. "They will find another issue to complain about."
The Togersens have again turned to Riverton's government to deal with
the vent covering.
Wood told the Tribune he might be willing to change the vent cover —
"if it's offensive to them as they have been to me. I'm not above an
apology" from neighbors.