Alternative Facts
The neighbors to the north have communicated to us via their attorney. Here are a few of the claims we take issue with:
FOHB volunteers have “trampled” on the streetend in past work parties
The homeowners were more than happy to allow mulch delivery from SDOT to the streetend, but FOHB volunteers “walked away” from the work event
FOHB is bullying the homeowners
It’s hard to keep up with the alternative facts, but a couple examples of the faulty reasoning:
None of us (including you) are trampling when accessing Hidden Beach. It’s public land. Everyone knows it’s not a wetland—but the incorrect designation is being leveraged as way to police the public on public land.
The fence prevented SDOT’s truck from delivering mulch to our scheduled work party — the homeowner was uncooperative when asked by SDOT about moving the fence for wood chip delivery. The work party did not want the chips to be poured up the street (where they would need to be hauled onto the public streetend).
FOHB is not bullying. We are advocating for public land.
The lawyer claims: they’re just asking “questions.”
Thursday, May 30, 2024
Libby,
The Roberts and I saw your blog post yesterday about the temporary construction fence. There are statements in it that are misleading that should be corrected:
First, you state that removing the fence “would also allow us to have a community work day spreading mulch which could not previously be delivered to the property. The fence blocked delivery by our own Dept of Transportation for the care of its own property.” This is not accurate. In response to an inquiry from Omar Akkari about a delivery of mulch for a work party earlier this year, on February 20, 2024, the Roberts told Omar that they were happy to move the construction fence to accommodate lawful maintenance of the shoreline. The Roberts had questions and concerns about the work being performed by FOHB given the history of clearing, trimming, and trampling by work parties in the shoreline environment and within a mapped critical area wetland. But the Roberts did not prevent delivery of the mulch, they just asked questions about what was going to occur. On February 22, 2024, Omar responded: “We canceled the mulch delivery since volunteers backed out of that activity.” The decision to forgo the mulch delivery was made by FOHB and SDOT, not the Roberts.
Second, the temporary construction fence does not prevent access to the E. Harrison SSE as your post implies. The temporary construction fence is not an illegal encroachment – it is a permitted temporary use that the Roberts pay a fee for, and those fees benefit the public through SDOT’s work. The temporary construction fencing allows for the construction unloading and staging work that is necessary to finish the construction on the house and protects the public from those construction activities. People can still access the SSE, and the area that is temporarily fenced has been reduced as work progresses to ensure that it is the minimum size necessary to accommodate the remaining construction activities and keep the public safe from construction. SDOT has been very thorough in its review of all extension submittals, and the Roberts would not be asking for an extension if it were not necessary to finish construction and keep people safe during that time.
Please correct these misstatements, particularly because your blog post provides the SDOT permit reviewer’s email and calls readers to take action and “[f]eel free to let the reviewer hear your feelings” based on incomplete and incorrect information. You are inviting people to lobby SDOT based on inaccurate information in what should be an unpolitical, administrative permitting process.
On behalf of the Roberts, I have previously informed you of numerous other factual inaccuracies in FOHB’s blog posts, website, and email blasts, but as far as I can tell only one of those inaccuracies was corrected while the many others intentionally persist. These inaccuracies perpetuate bad information and misinform well-meaning people, causing animosity and harm to the Roberts. Of course, differences in opinion based on facts are expected in public arenas, but spreading wrong information is harassing the Roberts and detrimental to the public. The Roberts again request that you correct the inaccuracies you posted, and that you stop wrongly and relentlessly implying that they are trying to “privatize” the E. Harrison SSE and that the temporary construction fence is an illegal “encroachment”. It’s simply untrue – all the Roberts have done is apply for legal permits to safely access their home and complete construction on their house. They are trying to be good neighbors to the E. Harrison SSE and the community they have lived in for decades. You are bullying the Roberts, and they again ask you to stop.
Respectfully,
Jacquie
Jacquie Quarré
Tharsis Law P.S.
