A Monte Sereno neighbor feud involves the city, PG&E, fence, tree

Legal action is threatened by all sides of the debate

PG&E now waiting on city

By Nathan R. Huff

If a tree falls in Monte Sereno and the neighbor is out of town, does it make a sound? Perhaps not at the time, but when Dianne Brun recently returned to her Monte Sereno home on Highway 9 to find that the 40-year-old eucalyptus that provided shade and privacy from the neighboring property had been felled, she made a lot of sounds.

The eucalyptus tree's removal is just one incident in an ongoing dispute between Darla Hurt-Weese and Joseph Padget and two neighbors, the Bruns next door and the Hunters behind them. The feud also involves the city of Monte Sereno, Caltrans and PG&E.

The Bruns and Hurt-Weese could soon come to legal blows over Hurt-Weese's recent removal of the Bruns's 200-foot-long fence, which apparently has rested 10 inches into Hurt-Weese's property since 1938. Meanwhile, Jim Hunter may bring litigation against Hurt-Weese because he believes she severed a PG&E gas line serving both Hunter's house and an adjacent rental home owned by Hunter, leaving both without heat or hot water.

Hurt-Weese bought the front of three lots located just south of Monte Sereno City Hall on Highway 9. She has tried since 1992 to build a new home next to an existing cottage on the site, and said she has done everything possible to work with the neighbors. The neighbors, however, contend that Hurt-Weese has taken some unilateral actions that resulted in financial and personal losses for them.

Dianne Brun, who has erected a temporary bamboo fence in place of the one that was torn down, would not comment at length. She described her neighbors as "our worst nightmare."

Mark Fredkin, who is representing the Bruns and Jim Hunter, said the fence removal, like the cutting of the tree and gas line, were done without approval from neighbors or the city.

Hurt-Weese denies she has taken any unilateral actions, except for removing the eucalyptus. She said she had no intention of removing the tree, but PG&E, GTE and her own tree specialist all said the tree was dangerous because of the numerous wires running through it. Hurt-Weese said their recommendations, coupled with a 1997 incident in which an electrical short blew out everything in her house, led her to have the tree removed.

"We didn't even know we needed to have a permit to cut the tree down," Hurt-Weese said.

The city of Monte Sereno has asked Hurt-Weese to plant several trees to replace the eucalyptus, but she has said she can't proceed with landscaping until the utility companies decide where the meters and lines will be placed and Caltrans reviews the landscaping plans. Hurt-Weese's property is located on a section of Highway 9 designated by the state as a "Scenic Route."

As for the Bruns' fence, Hurt-Weese said she and her husband had no plans to touch the fence until Dianne Brun claimed in a letter to the city that the fence was protected by a prescriptive easement because it had been in that location for so long. Hurt-Weese said that, legally, Brun's letter amounted to a claim on her property.

"If we didn't respond to it, we'd essentially be giving her over 100 square feet of our property," Hurt-Weese said. Instead, Hurt-Weese and Padget paid a civil engineer to mark the property lines. Prior to the fence's removal, Padget called police after saying he caught the Bruns' removing and burying the property markers. The fence was torn down, and Hurt-Weese said negotiations over a new "good neighbor fence" are under way.

Fredkin said the removal of the fence was a legal issue that could only be settled by the courts.

Gas Issues

Hurt-Weese also said the cutting of the gas line was a long time coming and that Hunter was told numerous times that he would need to put in new lines or pressure-test the old ones when Hurt-Weese installed her own. Hurt-Weese said she even paid for the section of Hunter's lines that run across her property, but he wanted her to pay for all the lines going to his and his renter's homes if the old lines failed the city's required pressure test.

Padget said Hunter's structures in the back of the property violate state and city codes, and he feared he would be cited by the city for those violations if and when new gas lines were put in or the old ones tested.

On advice of his attorney, Hunter chose not to comment for this story.

As it stands, PG&E won't turn on the gas until the lines have been pressure tested and their final location has been determined. PG&E has also asked that the meters, all located on the front of Hurt-Weese's property, remain excavated until the issue has been resolved, leaving three gas meters and a high-pressure line exposed just a few feet from Highway 9.

"It's costing me hundreds of dollars in interest every day my project is delayed, and the city is being endangered by the open exposed gas meter," Hurt-Weese said.

In the meantime, Hunter's renters have moved out, and Hunter and Hurt-Weese remain without hot water or heat. According to Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police, a police report was taken on the cutting of the gas lines and sent to the District Attorney for review. PG&E is doing its own investigation.

Fredkin said the issue had "been forced upon Mr. Hunter." He added that Hunter, in addition to being without gas for more than a week, has lost substantial rental income.

Padget and Hurt-Weese remain angry at what they say is the city's, PG&E's and Hunter's failure to take responsibility for the situation. PG&E has been "completely incompetent," with different departments completely unaware of pre-existing contracts and agreements, Padget said.

"Every action we've taken has been under advisement of attorney and with the knowledge of PG&E, the city and Jim Hunter," Hurt-Weese said. "I have busted my ass for seven years trying to earn enough money to build this house, and now I'm sitting here with a nine-month-old in a 750-square-foot shoebox."

PG&E spokesman Scott Blakey said that PG&E alone has the authority to turn gas on and off. "We did not authorize the shutting off of gas, and we wouldn't," he said. Blakey added that PG&E would have no role in the matter until Monte Sereno inspectors and the construction contractor declare all the gas lines safe.

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