The verdict in Rancho Palos Verdes: Don’t mess with the Donald
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Department of random property disputes: A Rancho Palos Verdes woman says the Donald Trump organization summarily ended a property dispute by sending a construction crew and bulldozers to rip down and relocate the fence in her backyard.
The homeowner, Jessica Leeds, has property that borders on Trump’s golf course development, and had been in negotiations with the Trump organization, which was arguing that her fence was actually in Trump’s property. She says she believed the two sides were in the process of negotiating a solution when a construction crew showed up last Thursday.
“All of a sudden, they were here with their bulldozers taking down the fence, removing and destroying landscape, trees, a walking path, a storage unit — just bulldozing through the whole thing,†Jessica Leeds told the Palos Verdes Peninsula News. “They had a surveyor here … [who] moved the old fence … and put up the fence with some new posts at that supposed property line — which I’m not sure whether it is or not — without even giving me a survey, without even calling me, without even sending a letter — no notification.â€
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According to David Conforti, the general manager of the Trump-owned course, the action taken on Thursday was to “recoup†their land. “We’re simply reclaiming what is legally, rightfully ours,†Conforti said on Friday. “[Leeds] certainly had the forewarning. It was a few months old. There was nothing ripped out. What we simply did was remove the fence and then reinstall it on the property line.†The Trump Organization last winter sent a letter stating that Leeds had 10 or 14 days to move the fence herself, which she did not do, Conforti said.
--Peter Viles
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Photo Credit: L.A. Times