Koppel faces off against neighbors; Nightline’ anchor at war in ferocious land dispute

Washington Post via MSNBC ^ | December 26,2002 | Matthew Mosk

[John W]

Dec. 26 — On the air, he has played the delicate role of referee to Israelis and Palestinians. In the midst of South Africa’s clash over apartheid, he brought Foreign Minister R.F. Botha and Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu into U.S. homes on the same television broadcast. But at home in Potomac, where he is building a massive riverfront estate on 16 acres of cattle pasture, Ted Koppel is at war with his neighbors.

[TopQuark]

Thank you BigBobber.

It appears form the subsequent posts of DWSUWF that he cannot even comprehend that someone may have principles. Instead, he expects people to take sides and projects onto them emotional attachments that he himself has (his favorite argument is "you are bothered...").

It is sad to see so many people on this thread abandoning fundamental American principes if only it hurts someone they hate --- Koppel, in this case.

[F.J. Mitchell]

" Don't forget melon rinds."

Gimme a break here- The Senate Majority leader was brought down by a less suggestive phrase than that. I will confess though that rednecks love melons as much as or more than anybody else and we don't leave much rind either-just enough for our wives and/or mothers to make a batch of watermellon rind preserves, yum, yum.

[BigBobber]

You may have a valid point and I'm willing to listen.

However, the weight of your argument is greatly diminshed when you immediately resort to personal attack, and rely on endless repetion instead of developing your ideas more fully in response to what others post.

From my perspective, TopQuark wrote a very clear and rational argument why Koppel is probably correct in this case. I enjoy reading posts from Freepers who are obviously well-informed on a certain topic. It is annoying to me when people who can't succeed in this forum based on the strength of their ideas resort to personnel attack and mind-numbing repetition.

You're probably a good fellow and I'll bet we would agree on many subjects. This is just my way of asking for more reasoned discussion on FR.

[DWSUWF]

"...Gimme a break here- The Senate Majority leader was brought down by a less suggestive phrase than that..."

LOL!

Lott folded faster than Superman on laundry day!

I've had more starch left in me after a LONG afternoon dallying with two B-girls than wussy Trent has ever had in him on his best day.

"...I will confess though that rednecks love melons as much as or more than anybody else and we don't leave much rind either-just enough for our wives and/or mothers to make a batch of watermellon rind preserves, yum, yum..."

Oklahoma half-breeds like me like melons too, LOL!

[F.J. Mitchell]

"To which Indian tribe do you belong?"

One third Cleveland Indian, One third Atlanta brave, one third Washington Redskin, one third Athlete foot, one third Arapaho, one third Garden hoe, one third any ol' ho.

We find it offensive to be called Indians-call us Native Americans-call us anything but late for lunch.

I percieve that you too are an Indian, it takes only a few words from a member of the Piousbastrardchies to reveal their identity. Yatta Hey!

[TopQuark]

One third Cleveland Indian, One third Atlanta brave, one third Washington Redskin, one third Athlete foot, one third Arapaho, one third Garden hoe, one third any ol' ho.

This many thirds? No wonder you hate immigrants: you cannot even count. And, of all people, you are raising the question of whether there are still people in this country who can read.

If, as they often say, ignorance is bliss in America, you are a real patriot, F. Mitchell.

[stands2reason]

Watch an adult video store get built on one side of your house and a drive-thru liquor store on the other, and you might just change your mind.

[DWSUWF]

"...You may have a valid point and I'm willing to listen. ... You're probably a good fellow and I'll bet we would agree on many subjects. This is just my way of asking for more reasoned discussion on FR..."

Hey, I appreciate this.

Bottom line, I have an opinion on this (and many other) subject(s) that is as likely to change as the sun is likely to rise tomorrow morning in the west.

These discussions invariably are the result of someone who disagrees with me injecting themselves into my remarks and trying to sell me on their agenda.

Re-read the thread and see.

I'm not going to collect a paycheck for converting anybody, so I don't put that much effort into it. I'm content to enjoy the difference of opinion on a superficial level as I give as good as I get.

Which brings up a final point...

I never twist anyone's tit until I've been trash-talked myself. Re-read the thread for confirmation of this.

It's not my fault that I have a talent for spotting a man's weakness and using to craft a smart-ass reply. That I learned from my sassy mother!

[kcvl]

The neighbors have countersued, saying the Koppels have some nerve policing the size of other houses while they are building a Taj Mahal of their own. In interviews, the neighbors add that the Koppels have chosen a strange setting to wage war against ostentation.

What no one can contest is that 10 years ago, the Koppels obtained an unusual, contractual right to demand that their neighbors live within these size constraints.


The limit dates to 1993, when the Koppels spotted the 44-acre cattle farm on a list of properties for sale by the Resolution Trust Corporation, the agency which was overseeing the government bailout of the savings and loan industry.

Working under the corporate name Kodor Associates, the couple paid $2.7 million for 16 acres of the site overlooking the Potomac River.


Shirley Ballard Miller, who bought a lot near the Koppels in 1998, said her home was one of those cleared by the appellate court, but not before the Koppels’ attorneys crawled around her house with tape measures.

Murphy gasped at a photo of the 14,000-square-foot, $3.5 million neo-Italian villa, which boasts a master bedroom with a 16-foot barreled ceiling and a kitchen with a 14-foot-long, two-tiered food preparation island that seats eight.

“They didn’t want something like that on this particular piece of land,” Murphy said. “To them, it was just really important to know that the land was being protected and respected.”

[DWSUWF]

"...Watch an adult video store get built on one side of your house and a drive-thru liquor store on the other, and you might just change your mind..."

LOL!

I'm 100% sure that this would be 'number 10'...

And IF I could put up with living in a built-up area it might well be a problem that I'd have to solve, one way or another.

But I live as far in the woods as my bankroll allows me to...

Hey... There are a LOT of things I don't worry about simply because I don't have to...

You're different in this regard?

[kcvl]

He left the network for a year, in 1976, to care for his children while his wife, Grace Anne Dorney, attended law school. During that year, he did radio broadcasts from home, anchored the network's Saturday night television news, and co-wrote a spy novel with a fellow journalist.

Koppel and his wife, Grace Anne Dorney, also a Stanford alumna, have four children and live in Potomac, Md.

[DWSUWF]

You left out the most important tidbit...

The one thing that has the potential to push me from merely reviling him to utterly loathing him...

Does he now, or has he ever, owned a Chevrolet?

[jim_trent]

> "has been grossly corrupted to the point where
> essentially useless deeds to unusable property
> may be sold to the witless."

The witless have been with us a long time. I don't worry too much about them. Others (like you) do enough worrying for both of us. Restrictions on property are listed in the title search. The new owners knew about it before they bought. If they didn't understand, they should have asked their own lawyer. If they did understand, they should abide by their promise.

> It is a "quintessentially American trait to say, "Piss on
> this!" and resist."

In terms of freedom, I support that. This has nothing to do with freedom. It has to do with a non-property-owner telling someone who owns property what he (or she) can or cannot do with it. I am against the government doing that and I am against individuals' doing that.

[dennisw]

It seem to me that Ted Kopple is in the right here. However 2 factors not addressed are:

o Is Ted Kopple's house required to be under 10,000 sq ft. My guess is no.

o In the covenant are basements counted as part of the total house size? Common sense and fairness would make them exempt

[Lancey Howard]

A 10,000 sf, one story home with 25' ceilings throughout can look awfully, awfully big. Tack on things that do not officially count toward square footage, such as solariums, porches, greenhouses, garages, hangars, pool houses, etc, infinitum, and you can build an estate that boggles the mind, but is still officially only (only!) 10,000 sf

It all depends on what the meaning of "square foot" is.

[DWSUWF]

Jim... We're never going to see eye to eye on this.

I can live with that.

Will you be OK with it?

[TopQuark]

Whatever we think of him as a person, I too think that Koppel is in the right. The other points you make are, of course, subject to the wording of the covenants. I suspect that is why they are going to court.

[dix]

Please accept my apology if I offended you. My remarks were intended to very much of a lighthearted nature. I have nothing but the utmost respect for engineers, and I would give anything if my brain were trained in such a wonderful manner. Every innovation I can think of started with an engineer, and that is the beauty of the Lord’s world. You folks dream up, and make a product work, some other person builds it, and some guy like like me sells it. I will concede though it’s a mystery to me where some of these parasite lawyers fit the equation.

[Gary Boldwater]

No problem. I know several engineers with real estate licenses or in property management, they all say it beats working for a living.

[dix]

Wow, I sure would appreciate it if you could tell me where your colleagues are practicing their real estate, and it’s not like working for a living. I surely must be doing something wrong for the last twenty years because I work many sixty to eighty hours’ weeks from early mornings to late at night. Since practicing my profession is so easy, I guess I’m just a dumb sales guy who is gravy training his way through life