BILLINGS - Billings Heights resident Callie Luhman grew up in the Reichenberger Subdivision and is now raising her own family there.
It’s a secluded and quiet area of Yellowstone County with plenty of space, off Dover Road near 5 Mile and near Pioneer School.
“We are outside of city limits,” said Luhman. “Everybody has big yards.”
Big yards where her own four daughters can play and grow up too.
“We moved back here in 2020 after my mother passed away to help out my dad,” she said.
Her father lives just feet down the road from her, but seeing him now takes a bit more effort.
A bubbling feud within the neighborhood came to a head when one early Saturday morning in July, Luhman says a big metal gate went up, blocking access from one side of the subdivision to the other.
“Within the same hour that they cemented the posts, they had the gate hanging and the signs were up,” said Luhman.
Luhman said she and others watched as residents of the first and second phases of the subdivision, armed with tools, placed a locked gate on Dover Lane, which connects to the third phase.
She says she knew the act was illegal. She called law enforcement, but she said she was told they couldn't do anything about it.
“So, we just had to watch it happen,” she said.
Luhman says it's illegal because, according to the subdivision covenants, the third phase of the neighborhood has a contract stating residents have permanent access to use Dover Lane, a private road connecting the first and second phases.
She says the barrier is also a safety concern, confusing emergency responders, the driver of the garbage truck and even a recent Door Dash driver.
It's inconvenient too, forcing residents in the third phase to now add an additional five minutes to their commute.
In the car, it used to take Luhman about 40 seconds to reach her father’s home directly on the other side of the newly installed metal gate. Now she says the barrier has forced her to drive as much as a mile and a half extra to get to his home.
“In our covenants, we have easements to use every road that’s in that neighborhood,” said Luhman. “And vice versa, so they are allowed to use our road.
Luhman’s home is located on Clearwater Way, a graveled county road, where roughly 20 other homes also sit and now will have to use exclusively the only exit remaining on Pioneer Road.
Luhman, along with a handful of other neighbors living in the third phase, now plan to fight the gate, filing documents with the intent to launch a civil lawsuit unless it's removed and access is resolved.
“I just think it’s wrong,” said Kevin Maddox. “I intend to fight it.”
Lisa Howe, president of the HOA of the Reichenberger Subdivision, says the issue regarding the private road is complicated.
Howe said in a statement to MTN News, in part; “We consulted multiple attorneys as well as Yellowstone County and feel we were well within our right to install a gate.”
Howe says the issue comes down to speeding on Dover Lane, ultimately putting children in danger.
She says homeowners of the first phase felt they exhausted all other options, such as letters, speed bumps, annual road closures and even attempting to go door-to-door to express concerns.
Howe said in her statement that the decision did not come without great hesitation.
Luhman disagrees, saying residents in the third phase were blindsided by the installation of the gate.
“It seems small to maybe someone who isn’t affected by it,” said Luhman. “But now I send my girls to even walk to my dad’s house and it's weird. It’s like, I know you don’t want us here, so this is uncomfortable.”
Members of the third phase have filed legal paperwork asking that the gate be removed but Luhman says residents on the other side of the gate have not responded to their complaint.
The residents anticipate their legal complaint will now head to court.
