www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/easternsuburbs/story/365899.html
Kevin King and his wife, Donna, dream of installing a backyard pool this summer. But the young couple got a rude awakening when their pool contractor drove to Lancaster Town Hall to get the construction permit this spring. That's when the Kings learned for the first time since buying their home in 2003 that they legally have only a 3-footdeep yard in which to build their pool. Or to enjoy a swing set with their kids, ages 3 and 5 Or to do much of anything else, it seems. Turns out the Kings technically aren't even supposed to mow the grass in their 60-footdeep backyard because of a conservation easement. They have learned that the fence they installed around their property in 2005 -- for which they did obtain a town permit -- is apparently illegal. So is the shed in the yard that was already there when they moved into their home on Depew's Michael Anthony Lane as second owners. Appearing before the Town Board last week, King said he and his wife were caught up in the thrill of buying their first home. They don't remember the paralegal who handled the closing on their house in 2003 warning them that there was any kind of problem with their backyard. "There was a shed already on the property," King said, "and the previous owner had had the bulk of the trees cleared from the yard before we bought the house." Both the shed and the tree-clearing are supposed to be forbidden on land protected by a conservation easement. "If a tree falls down in a conservation easement during a storm, you're not even supposed to touch it; you're supposed to leave it there," said Councilwoman Donna G Stempniak, who -- like others on the Town Board -- feels badly for the Kings. The 60-foot-long easement affects not only the Kings' yard but also those of nine of their neighbors on Michael Anthony Way. Some of those neighboring yards already have pools, King said, because the conservation easement doesn't cut far into their property. In the Kings' case, however, the easement cuts deeply -- leaving only a 3- foot-deep area for their yard. Why is there a conservation easement in the first place? There were no wetlands or other environmental issues involved in establishing this particular conservation easement, according to Mark A Tufillaro, the builder of the homes along Mark Anthony Way. He said the easement was the only way he could gain the Town Board's approval for a zoning change a decade ago. It came about because existing homeowners on neighboring Country Place wanted to make certain nothing would ever be built on the land behind their homes, he said. "It wasn't the most desirable solution for us, but it was the only way to achieve the rezoning." Lancaster Supervisor Robert H Giza has asked town attorney John M Dudziak to research the problem and see if the Kings' dilemma might be somehow resolved to allow for a pool. But several developers and real estate attorneys The Buffalo News spoke to for background purposes said that unless the current Lancaster Town Board and all of the Country Place homeowners who originally requested the conservation easement agree to change it, the Kings may be out of luck with their pool project. It will be messy legal situation to unravel at best, they said, and possibly it cannot be resolved. "If that's the case, I guess we'll be putting a For Sale' sign on the lawn," Kevin King said.
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