Opinion ID: 2015956
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: origins of dispute

Text: In the summer of 1996, Robert Long began constructing a deck behind his house on Lot 104. During the construction of the deck, he removed the fence built by the Shannons. The edge of the deck abutted the former fence line. When he started building the deck, he did not have a permit. A city inspector inspected the deck prior to its completion and told Robert Long that the deck needed to be set back 5 feet from the edge of the Longs' property line. Robert Long asked Donald Wanha whether he would approve a waiver of the 5-foot setback requirement. After asking Donald Wanha to approve a waiver, Robert Long had the property surveyed. Neither the Longs nor the Wanhas knew the location of the platted boundary line until after the survey was taken. According to Donald Wanha, he first discovered the location of the platted boundary line in the summer of 1996 when he discovered survey flags in the area of the disputed property. Prior to that time, he had always believed that the seam in the sidewalk and the sod line, later the fence line, determined the boundaries between the lots. Robert Long did not know the location of the platted boundary until the survey was taken, but assumed that the true boundary lay somewhere between the houses. After the survey was taken, the Longs and the Wanhas began contesting ownership of the disputed property.