Neighbor Feud Leads To Pinehurst Ban On Outdoor Activity In Evening Hours

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Currently,

Pinehurst

residents can be fined $50 if they are engaged in any recreational activity after 8:30 p.m. that can be heard by a neighbor. In the winter, the restriction is after 7 p.m. Many homeowners argue rule is unreasonable.

"If your children can't go out and play after 8:30 at night and it doesn't get dark till nine, I think that's pretty restrictive," homeowner Ted Rhodes said.

The ordinance was the result of a neighborly dispute between the Langstons and the Wainwrights. The Langstons complained to village leaders about late night basketball games at the Wainwright home. In response, village leaders wrote the ordinance.

Angry residents are organizing, holding meetings to strategize how to convince village leaders to change the ordinance. Jamie Baddour, like most homeowners, considers the rule a form of group punishment.

"We're being punished for two neighbors who can't get along. Let them go to court and do whatever they have to do to make their life happy, but we want ours back because it wasn't a problem," he said.

The village manager told WRAL that the Village Council will likely re-write the ordinance to make the time constraints more flexible for families.