CM: Cars drive neighbors apart

[Pat McCotter]

Deerfield
 
Cars drive neighbors apart 
Two cultures clash over property rights 
By WALTER ALARKON
Monitor staff
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May 02. 2006 8:00AM

Guy Daniels has been trying to sell his Deerfield house for 14 months, so he gladly shows it off.

"I've got 3,000 square feet," said Daniels, who hopes to move to Portsmouth, where his wife works. "I've got tile and wood floors, wood interiors, a farmer's porch, a garage. Name it, this house has got it."

He talked as he gave a quick tour of his home, showing the living room, the kitchen, the game room. Then, he stopped in the yard and pointed at his neighbor's property.

"What's this?" he said, feigning surprise. "That bus has been there for seven years, that trailer for seven years. That station wagon, that's relatively new. There's the truck the son-in-law brought in for him to take stuff out. But he's just using it to haul more in."

The neighbor is 77-year-old Ivan Nelson, who sells and restores cars on his 60-acre lot. Both Nelson and Daniels say their dispute is over property rights. Daniels, a young professional, just wants to sell his property, and he's convinced Nelson's jalopies are turning buyers away. Nelson, a backyard mechanic, just wants to put his cars where he wants them. A former neighbor said their personalities don't mesh well, either. The town selectmen said they can only do so much, but Daniels wants them to try harder. If he can't sell his house, he said he'll go to court.

"I'm looking for legal assistance from anyone who thinks this is a winnable case, whether from Ivan or the town or both," Daniels said. "Somebody owes me."

Nelson, born and raised in Nebraska, said he wants the freedom to stay where he has for 39 years.
"Cars had been my hobby, and for the last 20 years, they've been my livelihood," he said.

Nelson was a mechanic for PK Lindsey and Sylvania. He once built cedar fences for a living. Though he once lived in Massachusetts, he now champions "Live Free or Die."

"I was in the city, but I was a country boy," he said. "I wanted the space and freedom."

He fears he'll have to sell his land and move to Florida because his monthly Social Security check of $670 won't cover the $8,000 in taxes on his land, he said. He said the neighborhood might then suffer.

"I'd probably sell to the best offer," he said. "It could cause development. But it's not a threat. I approve of open space."

No one knows for sure whether Nelson's business violates the law. In the late 1970s, Nelson received a variance from the town, letting him sell about 30 cars in a residential area, said James Alexander, chairman of Deerfield's board of selectmen. In the mid 1990s, the town granted a special exemption to replace the variance, which had expired, Alexander said. The exemption allowed him to continue his business, as long as he removed some of the cars from his property. Last year, after Daniels complained to the selectmen, the state Division of Motor Vehicles revoked Nelson's bonded dealer license, which allowed him to offer some protection to car buyers.

In the past three years, Nelson has removed up to 280 cars by selling or scrapping them. He has shown the receipts to the town, Alexander said. But Daniels and the selectmen sometimes see Nelson bringing cars back in. Nelson said he only has 100 left. But Daniels said he could have twice that number, and he wants the selectmen to enforce their restrictions.

The dispute has gone beyond car receipts, said Shawn Coope, who lived across the street from both of them three years ago. "What you really have there is a kind of clash of cultures," said Coope, a lieutenant for the Raymond Police. "You've got Ivan, who is old school, who says, 'Hey, it's my property and I can make a living off of it,' versus the professional with the family, where home is where you relax and wind down."

Coope, who still visits Daniels, said the two should sit down together with the town and hash it out. As a police officer, he has seen neighborhood spats turn ugly. In one of his cases, a man older than 70 hit his twentysomething neighbor with a shovel. The older man was angry over how the neighbor cleared his driveway of snow, Coope said. But if reason doesn't work, Coope said Daniels should go to court.

Daniels said 30 people have looked at his house since he put it on the market in March 2005. More have contacted his real estate agent. He said at least one prospective buyer was interested until she saw the cars next door.

Daniels, 36, sells "nutraceuticals"- vitamins and dietary supplements - to physicians across New England. He grew up in Massachusetts and attended college and graduate school in Florida. He lived in Derry for two years, then moved to Deerfield seven years ago, drawn by the Deerfield Fair and the town's rustic scenery.

"I'm all for Live Free or Die," he said. "I love New Hampshire politics. I'm an independent, but if I had a label, it would be libertarian. But I don't think you should negatively impact the people around you, whether it's smoke in a restaurant or contaminating wells and drinking water."

Daniels can see at least two dozen of Nelson's cars while standing in his yard. The vehicles, stashed behind trees, behind boulders and in a barn on Nelson's land, include a white Mack truck, a couple of SUVs, an unattached horse trailer, two rusted tractors, a bulldozer, a delivery truck and a yellow school bus. Daniels points out dozens more off in the distance, only visible from the second story of his house.

When Daniels talks about what he wants Nelson to do, his words show his frustration.

"A, he should get rid of the cars; B, he shouldn't bring in any more; and C, it should lead to compliance," he said. "It's not rocket science."

He then pointed to another car on Nelson's lot. "I don't think he's used that green dump truck."

[Fluff and Stuff]

Sounds like someone does not understand the free market.  If the guy would just lower the price he wants for his house, he would sell it without a problem.  The guy just wants too much money.

[Dreepa]

Daniels said. "Somebody owes me."

Boo Fuckin' hoo.

Nobody owes you squat.

[Pat McCotter]

Nelson has lived there for 39 years. He's been making a living with the vehicles on his lot for the past 20 years. Daniels moved in next door 7 years ago! He knew then what was next door! He shouldn't have a leg to stand on!

[Dreepa]

I'm an independent, but if I had a label, it would be libertarian. But I don't think you should negatively impact the people around you, whether it's smoke in a restaurant or contaminating wells and drinking water."

interesting quote.

[Zork]

I'm an independent, but if I had a label, it would be libertarian. But I don't think you should negatively impact the people around you, whether it's smoke in a restaurant or contaminating wells and drinking water."

interesting quote.

My thought exactly.  Fora  libertarian, he doesn't espouse very libertarian sentiments.  He was the government to force his neighbor to live a certain way and he feels business should be forced to ban smoking.

[Lex]

He didn't say he was an anarchist, just that he's a libertarian. Libertarians are unprincipled 

[Pat McCotter]

Sent to the Monitor:

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Guy Daniels of Deerfield (May 3, Cars drive neighbors apart) doesn't have a leg to stand on in his dispute with neighbor Ivan Nelson. Mr Nelson has lived there for 39 years. Mr. Daniels knew the cars were there when he moved in 7 years ago.

It's bad enough that the property taxes are probably going to force Mr. Nelson from his property. You want to force a 77-year old man to stop what he's been doing for the past 20 years?
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[aries]

So put up a fence.

Maybe your neighbor is disgusted by your perfection and haughtiness.

[Dreepa]

Sent to the Monitor:

========================================
Guy Daniels of Deerfield (May 3, Cars drive neighbors apart) doesn't have a leg to stand on in his dispute with neighbor Ivan Nelson. Mr Nelson has lived there for 39 years. Mr. Daniels knew the cars were there when he moved in 7 years ago.

It's bad enough that the property taxes are probably going to force Mr. Nelson from his property. You want to force a 77-year old man to stop what he's been doing for the past 20 years?
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Nice Pat ... I like it.

[Dreepa]

My wife can't stand the site of my neighbor's shed.

I said.. oh well. We can put a bush in front of it.  The shed has been there long before we moved here.

[Ron Helwig]

I really like the fact that there's all kinds of people in the area. Seeing big "nice" houses in the same neighborhood with collapsing barns and tiny cabins makes the area interesting.

Of course I did move from a "Pleasant Valley" sort of neighborhood in MN.

[Pat K]

If I had the money, I would give this guy twice his asking price if he would agree to move to Mass.

[Pat McCotter]

My LTE is in today's paper - not yet online. The original article is also CM's "Week's No. 1 read."

[aries]

My LTE is in today's paper

Nice job!