CONYNGHAM BOROUGH, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — There are new developments in a controversy centering on a rainbow-painted fence in Luzerne County.
Officials say the fence violates a zoning ordinance and it must be repainted.
But the owner of the fence believes it all has to do with his support for gay pride. Eyewitness News first told you about the controversy last week.
That fence was put up as the result of an ongoing neighborhood feud. But now it appears that the feud has led to a deeper discussion in the community.
“We received no indication that this is in retribution for painting gay pride colors, but it’s very obvious,” said Wayne Berg, Conyngham resident.
Wayne Berg put up the fence near his Sugarloaf Avenue home and painted it with the colors of the rainbow several weeks ago, as the result of an ongoing feud with his neighbor. In fact, he says the Conyngham Borough Zoning Officer advised him to put the fence up.
This was after the borough received ongoing complaints from his neighbor, Jerry Pesock, which included outdoor burning and noise complaints.
Berg lives in the home with his aunt and uncle, who both claim the zoning officer said they could paint the fence any color they wanted to.
But this week, the zoning officer sent them a letter saying it must be repainted because it violates a zoning ordinance that prohibits artwork, writings, or pictures on fences. They could be cited if it is not repainted or they could also apply for a zoning variance.
“Well we initially put the fence up because of the issues we’ve been having and we made the decision to paint rainbow colors and I informed the zoning officer we were going to paint it that way and he’s the one who suggested that we paint it in pink with purple stripes as long as it’s on your property you can do whatever you want with it. I guess I don’t understand him saying that we are not getting cited for it,” explained Debbie Simon, Conyngham resident.
“It’s very unclear how the borough could say that it’s okay to paint our fence pink with purple stripes, but once they see the gay pride colors they are vehemently against it, issuing violations and such, forcing us to take it to our community and our public,” Berg added.
We reached out to Jerry Pesock who says he had nothing to add to what he told us last week, which was…
“I have nothing against gay rights or anything like that. It has nothing absolutely to do with that. It is multi-colored, it looks hideous, period,” said Conyngham resident, Jerry Pesock on September 22.
Berg faces fines up to $500 a day if he does nothing. He says he will appeal for a zoning variance and says if need be, he will fight this in court.
Eyewitness News again reached out to the Conyngham Zoning Officer for comment, as well as, other borough officials and have not heard back.