Couple Seek Help From Court in Bitter Property Rights Feud

A nasty feud over hillside views and property rights has escalated as one Torrance couple accused another of making racial slurs and “foul-mouthed tirades.”

The accusations were made in court papers that Bruce and Carmen Kennedy filed in Torrance Superior Court, requesting an injunction to end alleged harassment by their neighbors, James and Lauretta Ellingson.

The Ellingsons denied the charges and said they are the ones who have been harassed ever since they applied to the City of Torrance two years ago to expand their home on Susana Avenue.

Such bitter disputes have become a troubling fact of life in many hillside neighborhoods in the South Bay, where neat yards and expensive homes belie the tension. In Torrance, residents said most of the disputes stem from the city’s hillside ordinance, which prohibits home construction that robs neighbors of “view, light, air and privacy.”

Neighbors around Susana Avenue and Riviera Way quickly took sides in 1986 when the Ellingsons first proposed adding a second story and more than doubling the size of their 1,022-square-foot home. Some thought the addition was too big and would destroy views; others supported the Ellingsons’ right to use their property as they wish.

Neighbors said the bad feelings on both sides steadily increased as the Ellingsons submitted remodeling plans four times, only to have them rejected by the City Council.

The council majority insisted that the addition was too large and would be offensive to neighbors, but the Ellingsons protested that the city could not be satisfied, no matter how much they revised their plans.

A Torrance Superior Court commissioner refused the couple’s request to override the City Council votes. The Ellingsons have appealed the ruling.

The Kennedys, both 39, were among neighbors who objected to the home addition, saying the roof would have blocked their panoramic view of the South Bay and Los Angeles. The couple did not fight the Ellingsons’ last proposal, which reduced the height of the proposed home addition from 29 to 24 1/2 feet.

The bickering died down until New Year’s Eve, Carmen Kennedy said.

It was then, the Kennedys say, that they returned from a skiing trip at Lake Tahoe with their two daughters to find a 6-foot-high chain-link “spite” fence in their back yard. Court documents charge that the Ellingsons’ fence was clearly well onto the Kennedys’ property and once again obstructed our view.”

The Kennedys protested to Torrance officials, and the Department of Building and Safety this month ordered the fence removed within a month unless the Ellingsons can prove that it is on their land.

James Ellingson, 36, said he will satisfy the order by moving the fence about 5 feet down the hillside that separates the two homes.

Court documents indicate that the police have been called twice--once by each side--after arguments about the fence.

The Kennedys charged that James Ellingson dumped refuse on their side of the property line. Another confrontation occurred Jan. 21 when Carmen Kennedy examined the disputed property line, according to the Kennedys’ petition. “At this point, the Ellingsons both engaged in a hysterical screaming of the foulest expletives and the most inflammatory racial slurs,” the petition charged.

Carmen Kennedy is black. Her husband is white.

The Ellingsons also began to fly a Confederate flag, according to Carmen Kennedy. “That is repugnant to me,” she said. “I can’t think of but one or two places where I have seen Confederate flags. It’s an insult.”

In an interview, the Ellingsons said they have been misunderstood by an overly sensitive Carmen Kennedy. James Ellingson said he always flies the Confederate flag in recognition of the January birthday anniversaries of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. He said he also hoists the American flag, the Texas Lone Star flag and the French flag to commemorate other historic occasions.

James Ellingson said he built the fence not out of spite but to keep his two dogs on his property and to keep the Kennedys’ dog out.

“We haven’t had any problems with them until recently, when their dog started coming over here,” Ellingson said.

Lauretta Ellingson, 33, said her family only wants to be left alone. She said it was the Kennedys who were abusive and foul-mouthed during confrontations over the fence.

The Ellingsons said this is not the first time they have been wrongly accused by neighbors. In June, they filed a lawsuit that accused a couple down the block of libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

That dispute centered on a letter that Jim and Marilyn van Oppen sent to several neighbors, urging them to oppose the Ellingsons’ home addition. According to the Ellingsons’ suit, the Van Oppens’ letter included a paragraph that read:

“I am only sending this letter to neighbors who do not have young children. The actions of the Ellingsons toward their neighbors who have objected to their plans in the past have not been pleasant to bear. People with young children are vulnerable--more vulnerable than those of us whose families are grown, and we don’t live next door to the Ellingsons.”

The Ellingsons’ libel suit charged that the letter incorrectly labels them as disruptive and dangerous to their neighbors.

The Van Oppens refused to discuss the case, but their lawyer, A. B. Chettle Jr., said the letter contained personal opinions protected by the First Amendment right to free speech. The suit, which seeks $1.2 million in damages, is pending in Torrance Superior Court.

Old-timers on the block said they are sick of all the bickering. They talk wistfully of the days before the neighborhood was divided.

The Ellingsons said they have not given up on their home addition. They said they may return to the Torrance Planning Department this year with another proposal.