Schaumburg neighbor dispute over trailer goes villagewide

A 25-foot-long, 13-foot-high white trailer parked in a Schaumburg driveway has sparked a neighbor dispute that this week led many other owners of larger vehicles in the village to become concerned about the possibility of a ban.

Schaumburg's planning, building and development committee meeting Thursday had been aimed specifically at the dispute among neighbors in a cul-de-sac on the west side of the village, not to immediately consider any new regulations.

Nevertheless, more than 50 residents arrived who had received fliers telling them the meeting was to consider possible changes to the village's trailer and recreational vehicle laws.

"It's too early to say what's going to happen," said Schaumburg Trustee Jack Sullivan, who chairs the committee. "It's a very complicated situation. If we can get everyone on the same page, maybe we can resolve this without having to legislate."

In the meantime, village staff members intend to research how other communities have chosen to regulate the placement and screening of extraordinarily large vehicles on residential property.

The controversial trailer belonging to Mark Panther breaks no existing laws in either its size or its distance from his neighbors' property line, village officials said.

But neighbors said they find both the size of the trailer as well as the security cameras on it and Panther's backyard shed to be highly intrusive to their property and privacy.

It would be even worse, one neighbor said, if Panther followed through on his plan to extend his driveway into the backyard and park the trailer where the shed now sits.

Panther declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Herald. He also did not comment while attending Thursday night's committee meeting, according to village officials.

Assistant Director of Community Development Matt Frank said Panther's plans to extend his driveway are also permitted under current village laws. The only difference would be that the trailer needs to be 5 feet from the property line in the backyard, but only 3 feet from it in front.

A neighbor who collected 65 signatures in a petition asking village officials to address the issue, said she felt good about the progress made at Thursday's meeting and hoped others with more conventionally sized RVs wouldn't feel threatened.

Trustee Sullivan said the other RV owners present Thursday seemed somewhat reassured by the end of the meeting that the village wasn't targeting them but that some concern lingered.

"I think they understood a little better that they had been dragged into a neighbor dispute," he said.

A next-door neighbor said that until the new white trailer arrived about a month ago, relations between the two households were cordial.

But when the larger white trailer arrived, she said she asked Panther whether it was intended to be permanent and was stunned to learn that it was.