ELLENTON - An unusual
protest today. An Ellenton woman says her condo association told
her she can't keep her gate. So to protest, she's chained
herself to it.
Linda Lattin has been out
all day in the rain, chained to a metal gate, a gate that is causing a
lot of controversy in her community.
She
has a disability, loves her two dogs, and says the gate
makes life better for everyone in her household.
Lattin lives in her Palm Cove Villa home with partner Jim
and her two dogs. She's been there for 7
years. But being in a wheelchair makes it hard to
get around especially with two active dogs running from
place to place. "We have a problem with the
dogs coming to the door. Linda, two times she's
rammed her head into the door stopping for the dogs,"
says homeowner Jim Deel.
About
three weeks ago, the family put up their gate to keep the
dogs confined and Lattin safe. |
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But
now the condo association says it's against the rules. "I'm
on the board. I got a certified letter because three of the other
board members decided we should take it down. I'm on the darn
board, I was never asked," says Lattin.
She was informed of the
violation after getting a letter from the association's lawyer, and to
protest she's chaining herself to the gate. "I have until
next Friday to take it down or they're going to do it and charge me for
it. I think hey, you're not taking this fence without me, pure and
simple."
Deel,
who is outraged at the association's decision, says they
should make an exception to the rule. "If I
were a board member, I'd say in the future you can't do
this without our permission but I can see there's a need
for it. So we're allowing you to do it."
And now
Lattin says all she wants is to keep her gate because it
makes life easier. "I'm not trying to make a
spectacle. I'm just trying to make a statement:
‘hey, you can't do this to me'."
Friday
afternoon, the law firm representing the association
issued a statement, saying the gate |
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was
never approved by the condo association. The statement says the
gate doesn't benefit Lattin directly but only her two dogs.
The
family has until next Friday to comply and remove the gate or the
association will remove it for them.