Neighbor throws heat at Figgins

Jared Leone, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, July 18, 2008

Chone Figgins, who plays for the Los Angeles Angels, owns Holloway Plantation in Plant City.

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PLANT CITY — Marie Phillips' neighbor is causing her some major league problems.

Phillips, of Plant City, lives next door to Holloway Plantation, a partially developed subdivision owned by Los Angeles Angels utility infielder Chone Figgins.

Figgins, a Brandon High graduate, bought 14 acres of a former citrus farm and subdivided the land into eight parcels. He started building one house for his mother, created a pond on the back of the property and a 6-foot tall berm to surround it all.

Phillips' first complaint in February involved a dirt hill around the land. Stormwater was running off the berm and filling her yard, Phillips told county officials.

Code enforcement agreed with Phillips.

Figgins was ordered on July 7 to build a ditch to relieve the water runoff near Phillips' property within 15 days.

Figgins also will have two months to get a natural resources permit and finalize all of its conditions a month after it's issued. Figgins will be charged $50 a day if he does not comply with the county ruling.

"That's no problem at all," said Wayne Griffin, the engineer overseeing the work at Figgins' house.

A 12-foot fish pond was excavated and the dirt was used to build a berm around the property for security, Griffin said.

"When I drive through my property, I see a big dead tree and a berm. How we got here today is because of people's lack of caring," Phillips told code enforcement magistrate Chris Brown.

Brown, looking at county pictures, called the berm a "substantial wall" and told Phillips she might be able to put together a case to pursue land-use litigation.

"The biggest problem … is she can't see the road," said Figgins' uncle Jack E. Brown, who does maintenance on the property. "It's personal. Believe me, Chone's been nice to this lady all the while."

County codes allow berms that contain a fence to be no taller than 4 feet in front yards or 6 feet high in side and back yards. Berms can be as tall as 8 feet if they abut arterial roads.

Unfenced berms can be a lot taller, said Christa Hull, a Planning and Growth Management caseworker.

"Until a fence is put on there, there is no restriction to that height," Hull said.

Jared Leone can be reached at 269-5314 or jleone@sptimes.com.

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Neighbor throws heat at Figgins

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