Glendora Fences Don't Make Good Neighbors

GLENDORA, CA — It is said that good fences make good neighbors, but not in the Ben Lomond Avenue neighborhood of unincorporated Glendora. On Wednesday, an area mother was driving her kids to a playdate near their school when she came across the startling edifice surrounding a property.

"It's just a big plywood wall that replaced an old chain link fence," the mother--who wished to remain anonymous--told Patch. But the writing on the wall was startling to a mom who didn't feel neighborhood children needed to see and read something so full of hatred and ugliness.

The graffiti-tagging on the wall declared that Mexicans built this particular wall. Also, the word "Biggots" and "F--- you's" were spray-painted toward an unknown foe. The wall is situated within the property boundaries of that home.

"It was obvious that the people who built the wall tagged it themselves," she told Patch. "It seems like they were mad at someone, in order to invest the money to build it and then tag it."

On Google Maps, photos of the street show a chain link fence used to surround the property where the 8- to 10-foot plywood wall now stands. Patch learned that a neighbor complaint to the Public Works department regarding the home and unsightly yard was what caused this Hatfield and McCoy style feud.

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department San Dimas Captain Andrew Berg, the fence and the graffiti in question is not the result of a hate crime. Nor is it in the sheriff's department ability to take the wall down.

"The plywood fence is on private property," Berg told Patch. "The Los Angeles County Public Works is aware of the fence and the graffiti, and it is on their list to deal with soon. Near the top of their list."

Patch reached out to the LA County Public Works department for a timeline as to when the graffiti will be cleaned up, however with Public Works closed on Fridays, and Monday's Martin Luther King day holiday, the Public Works Department was out of the office and unreachable for comment.

According to Berg, it would be best if the neighbors could extend an olive branch and peacefully settle the dispute. As it stands, in a neighborhood that does not have a homeowner's association to regulate the look of homes or property, offended neighbors have little recourse.

Sometimes, it's best to mend fences and show patience, Berg told Patch. Patch also learned that the Los Angeles County sheriff's department is peacefully working with the homeowner to make the wall less unsightly or take it down voluntarily.

As for those who drive up Ben Lomond Avenue, the wall is a painful reminder that sometimes it is best to talk over backyard fences instead of building them. For now, we will keep an eye on the resolution of this Glendora neighborhood dispute.

Meanwhile, the wall has made one mother hesitant to drive up that road with her kids in the car. "I know they're going to see ugly things in life," she said, "but I want to have them avoid seeing that sort of hate if possible."

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Courtesy photos, edited to blur out profanity at editor's discretion.