In the coming months, the Zoning Board of Appeals will be hearing testimony in an incredibly complex dispute between neighbors that has spanned years of conflict.

David Stone and other residents of Granston Way in Onset have lodged a formal complaint against their neighbor, Robert Tourigny, for allegedly running an unpermitted commercial fishing operation out of his backyard.

Tourigny, who runs the Onset Oyster Corp, harvests oysters from his 13 acre shellfishing "grant," which allows the cultivation and harvesting of shellfish.

"In 2003 he obtained a permit from the state for a residential pier which has grown in size enormously since then," says Stone, "Anyone who looks at the photos can see that this is clearly no longer a residential  pier."

The group alleges that Tourigny does not have the proper zoning on his property to carry out the operation, which sees multiple employees driving in and out of the private community and, according to Stone, leaves commercial waste behind.

"When the tide is out, the entire beach is littered with shells. And when those racks are out of the water you have to clench your jaw coming up the driveway. That's how bad it smells."

Stone's case cites a decision by Wareham's former Director of Inspectional Services, Myles Burke, who determined in 2012 that the operation was in violation of zoning laws, Stone said.

After Burke was terminated later that year for failing to obtain state certification — a requirement of his job — Tourigny's operation was again surveyed by the interim Director of Inspectional Services, David Moore, who determined that shellfishing falls under the category of agriculture and therefore can be carried out from residential piers, Stone says.

This upset Tourigny's neighbors, who feel that Burke's decision was ignored.

"No one enforced the law," says Stone. "Does this mean that I can now go to the new Director for a new decision and ignore what (Moore) said?"

Stone argues that the current situation sets a precedent for zoning all across Wareham.

"Basically (Moore's decision) allows anyone who is zoned residentially to carry out commercial activities as long as they obtain a shellfishing grant."

Stone insists that he isn't looking to put Tourigny out of business.

"I don't want him gone, I just want him to unload at a public pier away from where we live. It's no trouble for him and our area will stay clean."

"We unload our shellfish at a public location, a public pier, not at my dock," says Tourigny. "We meet a truck at a public pier. It would be ridiculous to do it at my dock, we would have to walk up a hill with our load." Tourigny declined further comment at the advice of his attorney.

Stone remains unconvinced.

"In the past, shellfish have been unloaded on (his) pier, and anyone who looks at the water or the shore will see the evidence."

With a new Director of Inspectional Services in office and the Zoning Board hearing testimony in September, it doesn't look like either side will have to wait very long to see what will become of Tourigny's operation.

A Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on the matter was scheduled for July 24, but was pushed back to September 11, as the board learned that Tourigny was not properly notified.

For now at least, the oysters growing in Tourigny's grant still have something to worry about.