Clayton houseboat fuels riverfront feud

CLAYTON — A houseboat parked in French Creek Bay has sparked a four-month feud between longtime neighbors who otherwise would have spent a peaceful summer on the St. Lawrence River.

Edward L. Barlow, who has been living in his houseboat docked in front of Bette M. Brubaker's 952 State St. residence to avoid paying property taxes, said his neighbors have been doing everything they can to make his and Ms. Brubaker's lives miserable because they regard his home as an eyesore.

"They've been running noise machines and setting up cameras to harass us ever since they got here," he said.

But David Natali, one of the neighbors, said he has been turning on cricket sounds all summer to scare away geese, not to annoy Ms. Brubaker or Mr. Barlow.

Mr. Natali said he did complain to the village board and other agencies about Mr. Barlow's houseboat, which was ruining his view of the river, several times but was told only that Mr. Barlow was not breaking any laws.

"It blocks my sunset," Mr. Natali said. "It's not like he doesn't have another place to dock. He owns a waterfront property on Grindstone Island."

Mr. Natali said there is nothing else he can do at this point to make Mr. Barlow leave but he will continue to push the village board to take action. He also said that he will make a case to have his property taxes lowered next year because he believes the "obstruction" has devalued his riverfront property.

Ms. Brubaker said she decided to let Mr. Barlow use her waterfront for free simply as a favor to a longtime friend and she wished her neighbors would just leave her and Mr. Barlow alone.

"The thing is in the middle of my property. Ed checked with the Coast Guard and the harbor master and everything, and everybody said it was no problem — that is, until the neighbors showed up," she said. "And they've been raising all kind of devil ever since it came here."

Mr. Barlow said he moved because he wanted to live closer to his 96-year-old mother who lives in the village of Clayton and also because he feared that his boat would be vandalized if he left it on Grindstone Island, where there is virtually no police presence.

"The town keeps raising our taxes yet keeps cutting services on the island, so I built it as a tax revolt house," he said. "Because houseboats are vehicles, you don't pay property taxes, you pay vehicle registration."

Mr. Barlow said he is paying about $3,000 a year on two properties — a house in the village of Clayton where his mother lives and a waterfront property on Grindstone Island.

The houseboat, on the other hand, cost him only a one-time fee of $100 for a federal permit and $80 for a three-year state permit, he said.

Last year, in protest of high town taxes, Mr. Barlow proposed that the island secede from the U.S. and become a part of Canada — which controlled the north side of Grindstone until shortly after the War of 1812 — but his proposal did not gain any traction with the Canadian parliament.