Hermitage Zoning Hearing Board has been dragged into a neighborhood dispute on Rockwell Drive and awarded round one to James A. DeCapua.

The board granted DeCapua a variance from zoning ordinance violations Wednesday and heard the first part of testimony on accusations that John Myers and Karen Davidson-Myers are running a towing operation from their home, which they deny.

The hearing will resume at 7 p.m. Sept. 3. Anyone who wants to comment on the case will be allowed to do so.

Although board solicitor Roger Shaffer tried to keep discussion of outside issues to a minimum, the DeCapua family complained of having been intimidated and retaliated against. DeCapua said problems include animal feces and water drainage, and he put up treated wood curbing to divert water away from the Myerses’ property.

The Myerses’ attorney, John Edward Calior, asked DeCapua if the curb was a “spite fence” and DeCapua said it is not.

Calior also asked DeCapua if this is a “messy neighborhood dispute.”

“I’m not inviting him to dinner tomorrow night,” DeCapua said of Myers.

DeCapua, 1860 Rockwell, and the Myerses, 1924 Rockwell, are next-door neighbors. Ms. Davidson-Myers owns her house, which was previously owned by her parents, Robert E. and Sophie T. Davidson, while DeCapua and his wife, Bonita, built their house in 1972.

After the Myerses had their property surveyed, they discovered that DeCapua’s 10-by-15 pool filter house was two feet from the property line, while his 10-by-10 shed was three feet from the line. The zoning ordinance requires five-foot sideyard setbacks in a single-family zone.

DeCapua said he was told that a boulder was the boundary marker between the properties, but the survey shows differently.

The Myerses complained to the city, and Building and Zoning Supervisor Scott Smith confirmed the measurements and also determined that DeCapua’s home and accessory buildings cover 21 percent of the property when only 20 percent is allowed to be under roof in the single-family zone.

Nathan Zampogna, Smith’s predecessor, who still works for the city, said the lot coverage cap was 25 percent when DeCapua built his buildings, in 1972 and 1982. The cap was changed in 1991.

DeCapua said it would create a “substantial financial hardship” to have to remove the accessory buildings because they are on concrete slabs and he would have to tear them down.

Ms. Davidson-Myers said DeCapua should have to abide by the ordinance. When her home was heavily damaged by a fire in December 2006, she had to follow city ordinances in rebuilding it, she said.

“If he’s in violation of the ordinance, he should be punished for it,” said another neighbor, Gene A. Verroco Sr., 1915 Rettig Drive.