SOLON — Residents requested Thursday night that owners of a rock wall that is too close to Brighton Road remove it.

Owned and built last year by resident Kirt Olson, the stone wall is in the town’s right of way, making the town liable if a vehicle crashes into it and someone is injured, selectmen said.

Olson, however, has refused to move the wall back another nine feet. He said there used to be a row of rocks in the same area for more than 40 years, so his fence is grandfathered and should stay.

About 120 people gathered for the two-hour special town meeting at Solon Elementary School. They voted 86-33 to send a letter to the Olson household, requesting the family remove the wall within 90 days and that, until that is done, the Olsons will bear full responsibility for any injuries that happen there.

Olson was relying on a law that states a fence becomes the new right of way if it’s been in place for 40 years. There is a barbed wire fence that’s been in the area more than 40 years, and there was also a row of rocks that Olson said constituted a rock wall. He moved the rocks to make the current wall.

Town officials said there were rocks in the area, but they never constituted a maintained fence. A man-made structure must be 33 feet from the center line of that road, and the wall is 24 feet away and must be moved, First Selectman Elaine Aloes said.

Olson said he was simply maintaining an old fence.

“My fence has obviously determined where the town’s right of way is for a long, long time,” he said prior to the meeting. “We are not willing to give up any of our land. We are not willing to let the town go beyond our first fence.”

Some residents questioned the likelihood of a crash happening at the stone wall, and others responded that several accidents have happened over the years.

Residents also asked why telephone poles don’t have to be farther back and pointed out places where rocks are close to roads. Officials responded that utility poles are allowed to be in the right of way, and naturally occurring things are not a liability to the town, per state law.

One resident said he’s lived on the road his whole life and there was never a rock wall there before, while another resident questioned why the town didn’t deal with the issue when construction started.

“The selectmen didn’t become aware of the wall being built until Sept. 15,” Aloes said.

When one man asked whether the town could enter into an agreement with the Olsons to eliminate the town’s liability, moderator Philip Roy said, “The person who gets into the accident is going to sue the deepest pockets … Typically they’re going to go after the town.”

An amendment to convey the right of way in the area of the rock wall to the Olsons failed, 57-46.

Another proposal to simply have the town tear down the wall also failed.

Erin Rhoda — 612-2368

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