WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — After spending thousands of dollars on her fence made out of trees, a woman in West Palm Beach said the Palm Beach County School District is trying to tear it down due to a dispute over the property line between her home and Melaleuca Elementary School.
According to documents, which were shared with WPTV, the district paid for a new survey showing a different property line between her home and the elementary school. The different property line means the trees enclosing Bonnie Swink-Rineri's home from the school as well as some backyard lights and her sprinkler system are now located on the school's property.
According to the school district, Melaleuca Elementary School is being renovated. The school was supposed to open last August but the district had to delay its move-in date due to delays in the global construction market.
Swink-Rineri, who lives in the home with her husband, a disabled U.S. veteran, said she's been frustrated living next to a construction site. She said she believes the construction has damaged her home and machines have made her house shake throughout the day.
"Our house was rattling," Swink-Rineri said. "We were sitting here at the table and the table was just shaking."
She said she didn't complain about the construction because she appreciates the school district. But, Swink-Rineri has become frustrated the district wants to remove trees, which she said have stood for more than 20 years and have stopped students from throwing objects into their backyard.
"The most frustrating part is they think that they can just come in and tear down anything," she said. "Even of us after 35 years of taking care of it even when they had their fence in the wrong place."
A few other homeowners might suffer through a similar frustration as WPTV's Ethan Stein saw one neighbor's backyard, which was also encased in a fence made out of trees, already had a hole from trees being torn down. Swink-Rineri believes a similar fate awaits them Wednesday, which they said is the day the district said it will tear out the trees.
Documents, which WPTV reviewed, show Swink-Rineri has complained to the district multiple times about the issue in different forms of communication. Those complaints include loud noises, the ground shaking, people coming over the fence to plant stakes and a black residue being placed on homes.
My husband and I used to sit on our front porch almost every morning and several times a week in the afternoon. Now I am a prisoner in my own shaky home," she wrote to Michael C. Owens, a senior planner for the district. "It doesn't matter how many times we complain. NO ONE seems to care."
WPTV contacted Owens, as well as a spokesperson for the district. WPTV was still awaiting their statement as the district was closed due to the holidays.
Regardless, Bonnie Swink-Rineri just wants the dispute to end and to keep the trees she planted and has maintained for years.
"We've been through a lot," she said. "It's awful."