Battle Brewing In Blanchard Subdivision

A Blanchard neighborhood is now caught in a nasty squabble and it could end up in court. A Shreveport veternarian is building a kennel in her backyard. A group of neighbors say it ruins the quality of their neighborhood and violates the covenants, or regulations, in their subdivision. Yet, when it comes to this dispute, there are no clear answers. The owner of the property is Dr. Virginia Brookings, a well known veternarian who breeds show dogs. Paul Miller lives next door to her home and has a clear view of the 900 square foot kennel. He says on any given day 13 show dogs are in Brookings backyard. Miller says dealing with the noise from the dogs in the backyard is bad enough, but, a free standing kennel will be unbearable. " She can not put a 900 square foot kennel in the backyard. I want my backyard back," Miller said. He and neighbors like Gary Honeycutt say there is a bigger issue here. They say the kennel violates the subdivision`s covenant which clearly states that no free-standing buildings taller than 3 feet can be built on a lot. " If this goes unchallenged for 2 years, then the covenant is null and void and everybody can do what they want," Honeycutt said. Brookings` attorney John Settle says it might be too late for that because many of the subdivision`s residents have violated that part of the covenant. "If you have a subdivision where most people ignore the restrictions, then it`s considered to be abandoned,". A number of the homeowners in the subdivision have free-standing structures on their lots. That is why Settle says the covenant is no longer valid. However, residents like Miller think otherwise. He and three other residents have hired an attorney and they say this battle is just beginning. If your neighborhood has covenants, you need to take action immediately once a homeowner violates it. If other homeowners follow suit, the covenant could be broken.