SHERWOOD, AR - It was standing room only at the Sherwood city council meeting, a room divided between the neighbors at the Park Crest apartment complex and people who live in the Austin Lakes by the Bay subdivision.
The catalyst for the tension between the two communities is a fence the mayor tore down. People who live in Austin Lakes want a new fence built and those who live at Park Crest say they're offended by what they call their neighbors adversarial approach.
The neighbors at Austin Lakes say they've spent thousands of dollars maintaining a fence dividing their property from the Park Crest apartment complex.
Leslie Durbin lives in Austin Lakes. She said, "When we have bullets coming through two fences from Park Crest into our neighborhood that's an issue for all of us."
The mayor of Sherwood, Virginia Hillman, and volunteers
tore the fence down a week ago upsetting the neighbors at Austin Lakes.
"It was the city of Sherwood's fence," Mayor Hillman said. "It was on city property. it was not well maintained and needed to come down."
The Park Crest apartment complex put up a new fence but Austin Lakes neighbors say isn't secure.
Park Crest manager Wendy Dumas said, "No one from Austin Lakes has ever come over to my office to try to make a joint effort to clear up any issues they may have."
"The fence that really exists is beyond just that wood," Park Crest tenant Alim Muhammad said. "The fence that exists is peoples' bias and peoples' misinformation and their intent on what it is they are doing"
People who live in Austin Lakes say they want their money back for maintenance costs or a replacement fence built. City council members say they hope to reach a compromise by putting up trees and bushes as a privacy barrier.
Wendy Dumas says it's her goal to work with all the neighbors and develop a better relationship but she says unfortunately she doesn't feel the issues between the two communities can be resolved.
