SOMETIMES a fresh coat of paint is all that's needed to spruce up an old fence but a couple left their neighbor seeing red after adding a little flair to their yard.
Anthony Tapia and Judy Goldbogen decided to paint an old wood fence outside their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2016 but their neighbor, Arthur Firstenberg immediately objected.
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Firstenberg warned Tapia and a worker who was helping with the job that the paint would ruin the appearance of the street.
In a letter to the city's Historic Districts Review Board to ask city staff to refuse Tapia to paint the fence, Firstenberg said he read the warning label on the paint can.
According to the label, the can said it "contained a mildewcide, had ingredients known to cause cancer, and would preserve the wood for 25 years, Firstenberg.
"That fence … is immediately upwind of my front yard and my front door, and I do not want a toxic chemical blowing toward my house for the next 25 years. Mr. Tapia told me it had no odor and put it up to my nose for me to smell. He was not telling me the truth. It has a noxious odor and that single whiff incapacitated me for two days."
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This wasn't the first time Firstenberg was at odds with his neighbors, reported the Santa Fe New Mexican.
In 2010, he sued his neighbor for $1.43million in damages claiming her iPhone and other devices were making him sick due to his "electromagnetic sensitivity".
Christopher Graeser, the attorney who represented Firstenberg's neighbor Raphaela Monribot said that his client had to move out of Santa Fe as a result of the lawsuit.
"She had several reasons for doing so, but it was clear that living to next him and the actions he took toward her made it untenable to live there," he told the outlet.
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Graeser said that Firstenberg "pursues his own agenda for his own reasons with no apparent regard to its effect on his neighbors or those who end up being impacted by his actions."
After two years of back-and-forth, the court decided to dismiss the case in 2012 on the ground's that Firstenberg's argument contained little merit.
Tapia told the outlet that he was just trying to freshen up his property.
"We’re just pobres [poor people] trying to make a living and fix up the neighborhood," he said.
Tapia also described Firstenberg as the neighborhood bully, saying that he "just likes to hassle people. It's not right."
Firstenberg said that he was "just a little more assertive" than other people.
"I’m trying to survive in my house," he said. "I prefer to have minimal pleasant relations with all neighbors. But I’m obviously famous by now for suing my neighbor over wireless technology."
He even offered to buy his neighbors a new fence, according to emails he wrote to the board.
"I would like to avoid taking legal action if at all possible, and am prepared to spend some of my own money, within reason, to that end," Firstenberg wrote.
But Tapia said he wouldn't allow Firstenberg to control what he can and can't do on his property.
"We don’t like people bullying us and pushing us around," he said.
Mary Sloan, another neighbor, said she didn't mind the paint Tapia used and was actually in favor of his paint job.
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"It’s improved our street," she said. "I appreciate our neighbors, Anthony and Judy, making our neighborhood better."
The U.S. Sun has attempted to contact Firstenberg for more information.
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