Work gets underway despite Chevy Chase driveway dispute

CHEVY CHASE, Md. — Work is underway on the driveway project that has been the subject of seven years of contentious tension and court battles in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Paving crews erected a temporary fence on 44th Street, between Deborah Vollmer’s home and the newer, larger home that shares a driveway with Vollmer’s.

Vollmer first began fighting her neighbors, even before they tore down a smaller home and built a large one.

Vollmer has lost every lawsuit she’s brought against her neighbors, and the Chevy Chase Town Council has voted to allow the paving project to go ahead while Vollmer appeals her latest suit.

As the next-door neighbors looked on, declining to comment,  crews with jackhammers tore up the aging concrete driveway and grass median strip between the homes,

Vollmer, who grew up in the home, says the grass median strips are a strong part of the character of the neighborhood.

Standing on her own property, Vollmer called over, and asked the crew to stop their work, to “let the appeal be heard in court.”

The contractors continued their work.

In a statement to WTOP, Vollmer’s neighbors, the Schwartzes, say they have had to go to court more than 16 times, and feel sorry for Vollmer. The Schwartzes spoke to WTOP on the condition that their first names not be used.

“She has cost her neighbors in the Town of Chevy Chase more than $50,000 in legal fees. Unfortunately, we have had to spend much more than that.  We love the neighborhood, (and) the house, and we hope that reason will prevail in the future and that we can live in peace as good neighbors,” the Schwartz family said in the written statement.

WTOP’s Michelle Basch contributed to this report.