Not even a fence would have brought peace between Steve and Lisa Haimbaugh and neighbors of the home they own at the very tip of Jetton Road on Lake Norman. The Haimbaughs own the lone remaining vacation rental in a single family zoning district in town, having been legislated out of existence by the Cornelius Town Board three years ago.

With the "abatement" period expiring next week, the three-year timeframe that allowed owners of such properties to prepare to do something else with them, the Haimbaughs were the only owners who sought an exemption extension ... for 30 years.

Neighbors were in no mood for 30 more years of a lighted, "Olympic size" sand volleyball court, an extended beach, dredged diving area in the lake, trespassing guests, larger-than-permitted crowds of renters, excess parking and more on their otherwise quiet street. So, they came out in force at Monday night's Cornelius Town Board meeting.

It was a quasi-judicial process that allowed for testimony and cross-examination of witnesses by the Haimbaughs themselves. That led to some uncomfortable, neighbor-versus-neighbor moments. The Haimbaughs said they bought their property before the new town rules, and disallowing rental use was akin to "taking" of their property. Neighbors said continued violations of town ordinances and deed restrictions were tolerated because it was all scheduled to end on Feb. 2.

But not Feb. 2, 2042.

Commissioners rejected the Haimbaughs' argument and upheld the ordinance by denying their request for an extension. Talkers predict the town hasn't heard the last of the Haimbaughs yet.

Dead logic

Poking some fun and kicking the bee's nest a little — especially when elected officials are involved— is Talker paradise, and last week's seemingly short-sighted and down-right mean rejection of what appeared to be a simple and justifiable request from a developer had Talkers salivating at the prospect of taking some lighthearted jabs at the Huntersville Town Board.

Commissioners turned down a request from Cambridge Properties to make what amounted to an itsy-bitsy adjustment in the proposed route of the way-, way-, way-down-the-road Prosperity Church Road extension in the Eastfield Road area. Huntersville's transportation guru Bill Coxe — while explaining yet again that absolutely no one at the meeting would ever, ever travel on the road in question unless their coffins were dug up and moved — presented the facts. Cambridge wanted to jog the proposed route of the far-off road a few feet.

Commissioner Sarah McAulay objected and — speaking of things usually just imagined and rarely ever seen — Commissioner Charles Jeter was on her side.

McAulay's primary point of pique was that the route as planned would dice through a family's farmhouse and that family's efforts to change the route were unsuccessful so why should this request be any different? Jeter's logic focused on the fact that if the planned route, even if the road is somewhere way yon over the horizon, is constantly changed, what's the point in having a long-range plan?

So Talkers, this time at least, saw light radiating from the dais in place of the usual heat and opted to put down the acidic pen and, instead, opt for praise. This was clarity, pure and simple, even if it did revolve around a topic those old enough to read about will never actually see.