Anyone driving by the houses on T Drive North outside of Olivet can see the messages: “F U DAVE” painted over and over on a fence facing Dave Taylor’s house.
It’s an unsubtle reminder of Taylor’s troubles with his neighbor.
The neighbor didn't give his name when contacted by the Enquirer. Taylor said he knows him only as Richard. Someone identifying himself as Richard also wrote to the Enquirer about the dispute on Thursday.
Voter registration records show someone named Richard Brauer living at the neighbor's address. Email address records maintained by Nexis also associate that name with the email address used to contact the newspaper.
For Taylor, it started in the spring, when attempts to sell his house seemed to be stymied by his neighbor's medical marijuana caregiver grow operation.
"Even if it didn’t impact the value, it would impact the size of the market," said Bob Price, a former appraiser who was registered with the Battle Creek Area Association of Realtors but let his license expire in July. "There would be people who wouldn’t consider buying it because of the neighbor’s property."
Taylor said he felt penned into his own house because the smell of the marijuana plants would drift to his backyard.
Not knowing what to do, he contacted WILX, a Lansing television station. WILX did a story on his situation.
Deputies from the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office stopped by after that and determined there was nothing to be done because the operation was legal.
“Last we checked, he was in compliance, and we’ve gone back out and he’s always been in compliance for being a grower,” said Sergeant Chris Bacik. “He’s not doing anything legally wrong.”
But Bacik advised Taylor to give the sheriff’s department a call if he saw a large group of cars stopping by his neighbor’s house, because that “it’s when they start harvesting they can have an illegal amount of the harvest, because the plants can produce more than they’re legally allowed to have.”
So he did, about two weeks ago.
Nothing came of it but, after the deputies and the visitors cleared out, Taylor said he saw his neighbor begin painting something on a fence facing Taylor’s house.
“F U DAVE F U DAVE F U DAVE." There was also a crude illustration and words encouraging Taylor to eat what it depicted.
Taylor contacted the sheriff’s department again. The deputy told him that his neighbor had been told to cover up the painted statements. On Wednesday, more than a week later, the fence remained apparently untouched.
“The cops OK'd my operation,” the neighbor said, in a call to the Enquirer. “He calls the cops on me for having friends over. I’m breaking no laws. He wants to look over here, he can look at that.”
Taylor attended a Lee Township board meeting on Wednesday to see if board members could do anything for his situation. He was told there was nothing the township could do about the grow operation since it was legal. Lee Township has a public hearing on medical marijuana scheduled for Nov. 14.
“I have talked to attorneys, but basically everybody says, 'Let’s wait till after the election,' but I don’t even know if it’d be worth my while to sue him,” Taylor said.
“I don’t care until it affects me,” Taylor said, regarding his opinion on marijuana. “It’s like if I drank beer, I’m sure nobody else is really gonna care until it affects them, and it’s at that point that I draw the line.”
Taylor has lived in his house for around 10 years. His neighbor has lived there for maybe three, Taylor said.
His neighbor initially declined to speak to the Enquirer but called the next day.
Taylor "needs to leave me alone,” he said. “I’ve never done nothing to that guy. He can sell his house. I don’t care. I know plenty of people who would buy it.”
Contact reporter Natasha Blakely at (269) 223-0114 or nblakely@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow her on Twitter at @blakelynat.
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