U.S.-Canada Commission Will Halt Drive To Tear Down a Couple’s Backyard Wall

From the Pacific Legal Foundation:

In a victory for Americans’ property rights against infringements by international regulatory agencies, Herbert and Shirley-Ann Leu of Blaine, Washington, will get to keep the four-foot retaining wall that they built in their backyard, and the U.S.-Canada International Boundary Commission will cease its drive to have the wall torn down. The agreement was filed today in federal court in Seattle, as a formal settlement of a lawsuit brought by PLF attorneys on behalf of the Leus. The Leus’ home in Blaine is right next to the Canadian border. As retirees, they live on fixed pension and Social Security benefits. In November, 2006, they built a four-foot concrete retaining wall to keep their yard from washing into the ditch behind their property. But in February, 2007, the United States International Boundary Commission, an obscure federal agency with ill-defined powers, declared that the wall must be destroyed immediately because it allegedly encroaches slightly onto a “boundary vista” that extends 10 feet each way across the United States-Canadian border. “This demolition order was unfair, illegal, and unconstitutional,” said PLF attorney Hodges. “There were no formal hearings or condemnation proceedings. No legal precedents were cited to back up the demand. And the Leus weren’t offered a penny in compensation.”