29-495 public comment by George Danziger #26/8/23, 3:45 PM City of Northampton Mail - 405 and 415 Ryan Rd. Florence
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Nathan Chung <nchung@northamptonma.gov>
405 and 415 Ryan Rd. Florence
George Danziger <gdanziger@gmail.com>Thu, Jun 8, 2023 at 2:49 PM
To: nchung@northamptonma.gov
Mr. Chung
Thank you for taking time to view the conditions on the ground at these properties. I think that your gentle intervention
may have broken the deadlock these two neighbors found themselves in. After you left, I spent time with both parties. It
is possible a solution has been found.
First, I wish to withdraw my statement that Mr. Andrikidis removed the wire fence along the common line between the
back of 405 Ryan Rd and the land of the Sawmill Hills Realty trust. Mr. Andrikidis states that there was no wire fence
along that line when he purchased the property and I have confidence that this is a true statement. Further, the damage
to Sawmill Hill Realty property in that location predates his occupancy of 405 Ryan Rd., and this too is I believe is a
reliable truthful statement.
After discussion with Mr. Andrikidis he came to understand that asking for a 6’ fence around the bulk of his his yard rising
to an 8’ fence in a subsection of one of the property lines almost certainly has the earmarks of a spite fence which the
ZBA will not allow by special permit. If a 6’ fence is adequate for the bulk of the yard, then there is no necessity for an 8’
section especially facing a neighbor with whom he has become entangled with unfriendly relations.
Mr. Andrikidis wishes to proceed to put the matter before the ZBA this afternoon and I think he should do that so that he
can see what their finding on the matter will be. To the good however, is that if he turned down for the special permit, we
have a tentative agreement among the parties for a plan B.
The first steps will be that Mr. Andrikidis will remove the decrepit fence along the line in question and erect a temporary 6’
or 6.5’ fence whichever is allowed, in order to secure the area around his pool which is an immediate necessity. He will
take these two steps entirely at his own expense. Then the Ryans and the Andrikidis’ will plant a row of arbor vitae along
the fence line as a shared expense Cost constraints mean these will be 4’ to 6’ shrubs initially but since they are fast
growing in a few years Mr. Andrikidis will have the privacy he desires and the Ryans will have shrubs to block the view of
Mr. Andrikidis metal fence. I have offered to contribute $200 of my own funds to this shrubbery project in the hope of
generating neighborhood peace.
The parties understand that it might take a year or so for Mr. Andrikidis to replace the temporary fence he plans to put up
with a permanent one as he has to rework the parts he constructed to bring them into compliance with the height limit set
by the ZBA and Building Department.
The parties have in the past shared the cost of trimming the large arbor vitae shrubs along their common property and
have stated that they are willing both to resume this practice of trimming the shrubs every other year at shared expense.
Mr. Andrikidis has further expressed that he is willing to execute a document saying that all the fences he is putting up will
be built entirely at his expense and that he will also maintain those fences at his sole expense into the future.
See you on Zoom at 5:30
George Danziger
413-218-1008
Gdanziger@gmail.com
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