The nearby neighbors made the mistake of thinking that the property owner was a fellow homeowner. The problem is that the property owner doesn't see things that way. In their eyes, its a business and the neighbors who tried to deal with the problems person to person was just showing their lack of sophistication - this was a "pay yourself first" endeavor.

Jimmy's father built the goal at the end of the driveway when Jimmy was about 8. It is a thing of beauty - Ryan was a craftsman. Three summers ago he drove Jimmy and his teammates to the AAU Nationals. The next Thanksgiving he was diagnosed with liver cancer. 15 months later he died. When, I heard how the damage had been done and that the property owner had promised to get it fixed, but hadn't, that's when it was clear the owner didn't give fuck about the neighborhood or the people affected by their business.

It's simple economics. Two weekends a month gets the owner past breakeven, and the third and fourth are mostly profit. The values systems between the property owner and the neighborhood residents are incommensurate.

In the end, all it took was for two assholes to collide and agree that calling the police was the best solution. Well that and hitting the city manager and elected officials over the head with email.