Sandy Hill Path has been used regularly for decades by William Buskirk and his relatives, as the only access to his landlocked property east of Gower Estates LLC. There are two landlocked parcels of land between Gower Estates LLC and Buskirk, owned by Christopher Barlieb. Recall that Sandy Hill Path is now totally blocked by a well that Nestle installed - whoopsie.
Sandy Hill Lane connects Sandy Hill Path to Chestnut Ridge Drive, but to do so it crosses over two parcels of land, one owned by Lehigh Portland (extraction) and the other by Diana Laudenslager (residential). The portion that passes over the Laudenslager property was used by Sheesley Minerals up until the 1960's to haul sand in from a quarry along Tanzosh Lane. However, there is no deeded easement to this portion of Sandy Hill Lane, and since it hasn't been used for about 50 years, there is no prescriptive easement. There also is no easement by necessity, since the Gower Estates LLC property has access to Chestnut Ridge Drive. In short, nobody except Ms. Laudenslager has a right to be on her property.
One might ask why the owner of Gower Estates, Rick Gower, wants to use Sandy Hill Lane, and more importantly why he thought he had the right to resurrect the long unused path across Laudenslager's land - without as much as asking permission. Reportedly, he began running heavy equipment through around 2008, to improve the road. He was trying to subdivide his property, and sell the land currently used to access the house on the parcel, so he needed another way to get there. He dropped gravel on Laudenslager's property without their permission, and was told by the owner they didn't want him using their land or depositing anything on it. The owner planted trees to block the path, and they were cut down. The owner had boulders placed to block the unwanted traffic, and they were plowed out of the way. The police were called, and the owner was informed that since the road had been named, it was not a criminal matter but rather a civil one.
You might ask, why didn't Rick Gower put the road on his property? Look at the map above - he owns a lot to the west of Laudenslager too. The answer is there are wetlands there. He illegally filled some of them in years ago, and was fined for doing so. There is a pattern of doing what he pleases. And when you have help, there is no telling what you can accomplish...
It turns out that none other than Rick Gower's girlfriend, Eldred Township Supervisor Gretchen Gannon Pettit, is the person singularly responsible for having Sandy Hill Lane named and mapped in the GIS system as running across Laudenslager's property. She went across Laudenslager's property, evidently, since she accompanied the GIS mapper. There is a term for that where this observer was raised. This occurred in April 2012, which is after Nestle began quietly snooping around Gower's property. How does one name a road across private property without informing the owner? Hey, if you are a supervisor, you just call the county and do it - without telling anyone - naturally from the township phone number:
Gretchen Gannon Pettit does it all - requests road be named, accompanies mapper,
gives instructions. With people like this at the helm of your township, why fear ISIS?
Road of broken dreams - looking off edge of Chestnut Ridge Dr - gravel spread on Laudenslager property without permission, to improve a defunct path that has no easement - this road is about to be closed. Girl, interrupted.
It turns out that none other than Rick Gower's girlfriend, Eldred Township Supervisor Gretchen Gannon Pettit, is the person singularly responsible for having Sandy Hill Lane named and mapped in the GIS system as running across Laudenslager's property. She went across Laudenslager's property, evidently, since she accompanied the GIS mapper. There is a term for that where this observer was raised. This occurred in April 2012, which is after Nestle began quietly snooping around Gower's property. How does one name a road across private property without informing the owner? Hey, if you are a supervisor, you just call the county and do it - without telling anyone - naturally from the township phone number:
gives instructions. With people like this at the helm of your township, why fear ISIS?
You just could not make these sh*# up, readers. Imagine a township supervisor naming a road across your property so her boyfriend can create a new access to his property, and then when you try to block it, he has carte blanche to bully his way through steps you take to block him and protect your property, thanks to what his GF did for him. Imagine Mr. Gower allowing Sandy Hill Path to be blocked by Nestle, which Mr. Buskirk and possibly others could file a law suit over since they have a right to use that road. Some people will do whatever the hell they please in the name of a dollar.
Road sign grows in the forest - the sign was placed at Rick Gower's corner pin because he couldn't place it on private property 20' away at the end of "his" path. A clear indication he knows he is in the wrong.
At the April 13, 2016 Eldred Township Board of Supervisors meeting, the insanity was undone - the Board voted to have Monroe County remove Sandy Hill Lane from its map. It's amazing how much damage one person in power can do, and how hard it is to reverse. But the Ship of Fools is sinking gallon by gallon.
Footnotes: a road is only supposed to be named if it has two or more houses on it. Sandy Hill Ln has only one (or 0) - the house on the Gower Estates property, which is on Sandy Hill Path, so it shouldn't have been named in the first place. Sandy Hill Path was named in 2010, the first year that Gannon Pettit was a supervisor. She could be responsible for the naming of that as well.
Ms. Laudenslager appeared before the Eldred Supervisors in 2015 to complain and ask that Sandy Hill Lane be un-named. She was in the hen house, and a couple of poorly bred foxes were emceeing. The minutes of that meeting, like many others before Sharon Solt was unceremoniously removed as Secretary, are reported to not reflect half of what was discussed in regards to Laudenslager's issue. Put yourself in the shoes of such a resident, approaching your town board with a problem. One supervisor is the fool that caused the problem, another is in cahoots and doesn't report discussion of the issue in the minutes accurately- this is totally f*(@)! up. And these people portray themselves as pillars in the community even after their shenanigans and incompetence has been revealed.
Update 11:43am It should be noted that Ms. Laudenslager's effort in 2015 was met with no sympathy or action by the BOS. It took the de-tyrannization of the Board on January 4, 2016 with the ejection of Ms. Gannon Pettit to permit the right thing to be done.
Footnotes: a road is only supposed to be named if it has two or more houses on it. Sandy Hill Ln has only one (or 0) - the house on the Gower Estates property, which is on Sandy Hill Path, so it shouldn't have been named in the first place. Sandy Hill Path was named in 2010, the first year that Gannon Pettit was a supervisor. She could be responsible for the naming of that as well.
Ms. Laudenslager appeared before the Eldred Supervisors in 2015 to complain and ask that Sandy Hill Lane be un-named. She was in the hen house, and a couple of poorly bred foxes were emceeing. The minutes of that meeting, like many others before Sharon Solt was unceremoniously removed as Secretary, are reported to not reflect half of what was discussed in regards to Laudenslager's issue. Put yourself in the shoes of such a resident, approaching your town board with a problem. One supervisor is the fool that caused the problem, another is in cahoots and doesn't report discussion of the issue in the minutes accurately- this is totally f*(@)! up. And these people portray themselves as pillars in the community even after their shenanigans and incompetence has been revealed.
Surveillance video frame of Eldred Township BOS Meeting, ca. 2015
Update 11:43am It should be noted that Ms. Laudenslager's effort in 2015 was met with no sympathy or action by the BOS. It took the de-tyrannization of the Board on January 4, 2016 with the ejection of Ms. Gannon Pettit to permit the right thing to be done.
Does Ms Gannon get away with all of this damage Scott free or will she be held accountable?
ReplyDeleteWhen we elect people, unfortunately they are insulated from much accountability. The answer to your question is likely "Scott free," while Eldred taxpayers will pay through the nose to undo the damage done in 2014 and 2015, by Supervisor Gannon Pettit and Supervisor/Secretary Solt. These two women had multiple opportunities in 2015 to stop the carnage, like when Ms. Laudenslager appealed to them. But they refused to lift a finger, which would reflect that they made "mistakes" - as well as would have ruined the plan. Be careful whom you elect.
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