HONESDALE -- A homeowner in part of Wayne County broke out his paint brush to make a point in a dispute with his neighbor. That neighbor is a hospital in Honesdale.
Scott Bennett and his wife live in a brick home along Park Street, and their garage now has a colorful message aimed at Wayne Memorial Hospital next door.
It's all because the retired attorney said the hospital isn't playing by the rules.
For about a year now, Scott Bennett has had very little between his home in Honesdale and a hospital parking lot.
Wayne Memorial Hospital bought property and knocked down the house that once stood between the two to make way for a multi-million dollar expansion project that's in the works.
"We woke up one morning to having all these people right in our face," said Bennett.
So after months of discussion with the hospital about what should be done, namely putting up a privacy fence as required by zoning rules, Bennett got fed up and painted the message on his garage saying: "WMH SUCKS. NO PRIVACY."
"I need to get it out of my system. This is my art therapy project. Finally, people are starting to listen, that we're being abused," he added.
A spokesperson for WMH said a privacy fence at the end of the parking lot and alongside Bennett's home has been in the works for nine months and is on order. It hould be here soon and installed in a couple of weeks. However, Bennett said he'll believe it when he sees it.
"It's like being in a bad western movie where the cattle baron is coming in to take over the town and drive the farmers off their ground because the railroad is coming through," added Bennett.
The hospital parks large vehicles to block the view of Bennett's garage and its message, but Bennett said he's looking for one thing; getting his privacy back.
"We have people coming into our backyard from here. I had a guy walk over says: I like those trailers, can I take a walk through yours?"
Wayne Memorial Hospital plans to spend as much as $10,000 on the privacy fence and even raised the height one foot for the Bennetts.
A spokeswoman said the hospital has always been committed to building a privacy fence and again, it should be up in a couple of weeks.