A four-year community dispute ended this spring when the town of Hillsborough quietly agreed to pay a $125,000 settlement to the owner of the "Flintstone House" in a clash over the homeowner's yard display.
Retired publishing mogul Florence Fang was slapped with code violations in 2017 after she added towering metal dinosaur sculptures and other changes inspired by the 1960s cartoon to her bulbous-shaped house on Berryessa Way.
The town called the towering Stone Age sculptures, which can be seen from Interstate 280, "a highly visible eyesore" and sued Fang, alleging she violated local codes and made other landscaping changes that caused local officials to declare it a public nuisance. Town officials said Fang required permits before installing sculptures, regardless of the theme, and sought a stop-work order, according to a report in the Palo Alto Daily Post.
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In 2019, Fang filed a countersuit alleging racial discrimination, saying other property owners likely didn’t get permits for landscape sculptures or other renovations and yet were not hit with citations and a lawsuit because they are not Chinese.
The Town Council approved the settlement April 12, and the case was dismissed in San Mateo County Superior Court on April 27, but no announcement was made due to a gag order saying neither party could talk to the media, according to the newspaper.
The settlement also mandates that when Fang files new permits for backyard changes at her home, they will be approved.
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Features of the colorful multimillion-dollar property with its 2,730-square-foot home includes the dinosaurs, a sign that reads "Yabba Dabba Doo," figures of Flintstones characters along with aliens and other oddities, a staircase, a parking strip and a deck, according to the Post.
