'Outright nuisance': Backyard sports court, lighting upsets neighbors in Dracut
DRACUT - Flavio Granda Orbes says he wants to have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend with family and friends with his new volleyball and soccer courts he built in his backyard at his home in Dracut. "I just want to be nice with everybody. I want to say to them I do nothing wrong. I just want to have fun with my friends, with the little kids. They always come to play with us," Flavio said.
Flavio says the vision behind his project is because his backyard is so spacious it would be a great idea for neighbors and friends to come together for some friendly games. What he didn't anticipate was some of the competition he's facing from some of the neighbors who don't appreciate all the commotion that its causing.
James Martin is a direct abutter to Flavio's property. He and other neighbors voiced their strong opposition at a town hall meeting back in April. "It's an outright nuisance," Martin said. "They have got stadium lighting that shines right into my kitchen windows at quarter to 10 at night."
Dracut Town Manager, Ann Vandal says Flavio is complying. "At this point the only issue we have at this junction is that he needs to update and deal with electrical permit issues that he does have. He's been asked not to put the lights on until he fixes that problem and he's done that. He's been very cooperative," Vandal said.
Flavio says he moved here from Ecuador for better opportunity. He has a successful roofing business which allowed him to buy his dream home. His court is entirely fenced in, he lowered the lights and is willing comply with all town regulations.
Anayia Darius lives in the house next door to Flavio and says her family is not bothered by the house parties at all. "I was home one night they had a party going on, they had a lot of cars, it wasn't a disturbance," Darius said. 'It's never something that's to the point where we feel like we have to make a noise complaint."
Flavio hopes his neighbors allow him to celebrate his culture without it being a disturbance. "I don't know what the problem is," Flavio said. "The first time there was parking on both sides of the road. But now we put the cars on my yard. It's a big yard."