A DRIVEWAY feud has erupted between a church and a business plaza in a major city – resulting in gates being installed and even a wall being built.
The bitter row has come after two years of the two being good neighbors before, evidently, enough was enough.
The Faith Assembly Church, based in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, has now decided to build a wall and install a gate in a bid to stop customers from what they describe as free use of a small section of their private driveway.
In a report by CBS News, cameras captured drivers forced to turn around after they were denied access into the Beesontown Shoppes.
“Three or four cars of us had to pull up and turn back around and kinda let each other do that, then go back out and find a new way back in which was … yeah,” said driver Cody Thompson.
This comes as, for years, customers used the entrance on Wayland Smith Drive to get into the plaza.
But when Faith Assembly Church moved into the former Radisson Hotel two years ago, things changed and now drivers are forced to use the secondary entrance.
However, this can only be accessed on the west side of Main Street.
“That is just so tight trying to turn there,” said driver Lisa Dinunno.
“You have to make it more convenient. You have to make it easy to access in and out.”
Local media at KDKA-TV spoke to a Cisco driver who was trying to make a delivery to Jersey Mike’s, another local business.
But the 18-wheeler couldn’t make the turn at the alternate entrance, which is marked “no trucks.”
“My truck is way too big for me to go up from the other side,” he said.
A statement on the church’s website said: “As owners of the property, we felt it necessary to firmly establish control of the driveway, since it requires our maintenance and ultimately includes our liability.
“For these reasons, we are closing the illegal access into the plaza property from our private driveway until a legal agreement is in place.”
This has led to customers claiming it’s now too much of an inconvenience to access the plaza – meaning they’ll take their businesses elsewhere.
Speaking to the attorney for the church, KDKA-TV learned that a plan to rectify the situation may come “very soon.”
Is it illegal to use someone’s driveway to turn around?
Though driveways are considered private property, it may be difficult to prove a driver is in the wrong if they use it for a turnaround, according to legal experts.
Unless a crime is committed by the person using the driveway to turn around or damage is done, it’s bothersome, but not illegal.
“Generally it’s not going to be illegal,” wrote Daniel Lee O’Neil, a litigation lawyer in Texas.
“Unless they are using your driveway to commit a felony drug sale the police are generally not going to be that interested in the matter.”
It’s recommended that homeowners place signs warning against using their driveways or politely ask neighbors to U-turn elsewhere before calling the police.
Source: AVVO
