Hillsborough County, Florida — Bobbi Desotello first moved to Bay Point, looking for peace and quiet. But these days, he's getting neither.
His second-floor condo sits waterfront on a canal that feeds into the Gulf. From a long balcony outside his sliding glass doors, Desotello can see his boat in the water below.
But he can't get to it without getting an earful from an older couple next door. They claim that section of the balcony belongs to them.
"I get yelled at, screamed at, cursed at, threatened, spit on or attempted to spit on," he explained. "And it's just aggravating."
And it's been going on for over a year. Desotello even captured some of the exchanges on video.
Similar to the design of a motel, the balcony Desotello walks on connects several condos, and there is a stairwell at one end.
To get to his boat, Desotello has to walk along the balcony and in front of his neighbor's condo to get to the stairwell.
Tampa Bay's 10 was there as Desotello walked by Wednesday morning. Seconds later, the man inside banged loudly on a glass door, came out and began yelling at Desotello.
"Excuse me sir," asked Tampa Bay's 10 News Reporter Janie Porter. "Why are you harassing this guy every day when he wants to walk by?"
"She wants to walk here naked," the man explained as he stood next to his wife.
While bylaws from the condo association describe the balcony as a "common area," Desotello's neighbors say the balcony is theirs, and therefore private.
According to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser, they might be right. When the each resident bought their condos, the property appraiser's website shows they also paid for a finished open porch. Similar to a driveway of a house, the balcony belongs to the owner, even though they don't necessarily pay taxes on it.
But Desotello claims that wasn't his understanding when he bought his condo. And if he had known that, he says he wouldn't have purchased it.
"The whole point of me buying this place was the accessibility to the water and my boat," he explained. Even the condo association board agrees with Desotello.
"As good neighbors, we should offer the right of passageway to people who own boats downstairs, rather than have them walk all the way around," explained board member Evelyn Pupello.
To get to his boat, Desotello would have to walk out the front door of his condo, down some stairs, around three buildings, through a gate, and around the side of the three buildings. It's about a four-minute walk.
"It's a long walk," Pupello said.
Desotello also says he should be able to use the waterfront stairwell on the balcony because he, along with all association residents, helped pay for it.
"Those stairs were put in at great expense to all the owners, and it does not make sense to most of us that only 28 people out of 136 units would be able to use the stairs," Pupello said.
But if Desotello's next-door neighbors own the balcony in front of their condo, that means no one but them can access the stairwell.
"The question that remains though: is it really that big of a deal?" Porter asked the couple.
"Yes, it is," the wife said.
But until both sides come to a compromise, the battle over the balcony may continue.
Click the headline to view the entire story. Here are today's headlines:
