Fences do not make good neighbors

[Eric DeSilva]

i'm gonna go with this one.

Aw heck. If you are gonna go that route, just leave the fence up, and hire some hip hop graffiti artist to paint the side that faces his house...

I helped a friend recently built a playhouse for his daughter. After we poured the concrete footings and built the base, his neighbor called zoning enforcement. The were a bit apologetic, but told him it actually wasn't code, and that it needed to be moved out of his "front" yard--the front yard being everything in front of a line stretched across the front face of the house.

The irony, of course, was that we had to move it substantially closer to the complaining neighbor's house. We also decided, based on the discussion with zoning enforcement, that we could put a second floor on it and did so. Since it was his daughter's playhouse, he was also thinking hard about painting the one side that faced his neighbor--about 10' x 18' of wall--hot pink.

[Carlos Alden]

In the end, I will maintain the high road in this affair. As much as I would enjoy tearing up the fence and making a spectacle of the affair, I will choose to ignore him and his actions and clean up my yard in a timely manner. As annoying and inapropriate as the fence was, the damage and inconvenience was minimal. This was the first real experience we have had with him in the year we have lived here. He has never said hello or shown any interest in us. As far as I am concerned, he is just a crochety old man who needs something better to do with his time. My wife, who is finishing up law school, will be writing him a polite, yet firm letter letting him know that in the future he should come to us first and that such actions will not be acceptable.

Good for you for taking the high road. Dicey neighbor situations are not fun.

Here's another take on the situation: He's lived his life, maybe (probably?) had some serious losses in the past few years, and doesn't tolerate change well (like many older people.) He's lonely but generally mistrustful of the world, and the new neighbors who haven't even had the respect to come over and say hello start blowing their trash in his yard.

My next door neighbor died a few years after we moved in, leaving a bitter and unfriendly widow who barely had the courtesy to say hello to us. But it certainly would have helped nothing for me to get technical about things. She started to complain about a short fence between our yards, that it was falling apart. I jumped in and offered to rebuild it, and "would you mind if it was a full 6' tall?" She mellowed out a lot with that.

I might try including a dinner invitation in that polite letter you write. I'm not judging your response, just offering an idea that might yield better results in the long term. Let me reiterate how impressive it is that you are already doing the right thing by not getting petty.

Good luck,

Carlos

[Brian Brown]

In the end, I will maintain the high road in this affair. As much as I would enjoy tearing up the fence and making a spectacle of the affair, I will choose to ignore him and his actions and clean up my yard in a timely manner. As annoying and inapropriate as the fence was, the damage and inconvenience was minimal. This was the first real experience we have had with him in the year we have lived here.
Dan

Good Choice. I agree with Tom and Eric. Why start a long term neighbor war over something so trivial. Yes it was a slap in the face to you, but you can show you have another cheek. I always prefer the high road, although it is fun to read the responses of how to get back at him. Just read and enjoy, don't folow through.

[Jerome Hanby]

I would never suggest putting Round-Up in your sprayer and writing "bad" words into his lawn. That would just be wrong, very funny, but wrong.

[Joe Cunningham]

Wanna switch neighbors? Mine is an abandoned property--owner died a few years ago, adult 'kids' who are 30 years older than me have just let it go to pot. It has a vine coaked 'yard', vines crawling up my fence, walls, and is in general poor condition.

I'm heading over there this weekend to do some pruning, because they never will.

I'd love to have an anal neighbor who complained about my property upkeep rather than my present situation.

Be thankful for what you have, it could be a whole lot worse.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

You could call the police and prosecute them.

Prolly the cops would see it as a civil matter and tell you to solve it yourself.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

a friend involved in what is just this side of a shooting war with his next door neighbor. Seems to consume a lot of energy for both of them

That's the crux of the problem. Suing will cost money and burn bridges.
But, sometimes that's all that's left.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I'm heading over there this weekend to do some pruning, because they never will.

What you wanna bet if the place burns down, the Fire Marshal will be looking long and hard at you. Your obvious concern for the place's eyesore aspect will be what some might call "motive" and your frequent presence gave you "opportunity."

You'd be better off suing 'em. That way you demonstrate that you use the system to solve issues instead of self help.

Call me a cynical jaded SOB but I've learned that no good deed goes unpunished.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

When I got home today the fence was removed, except for a 10' section next to the leaf composting pile, which is well wrapped in plastic chicken wire. I am wondering when he will tell me that the compost pile has to go.

Some might argue that placing a compost heap right hard up against the edge of your land and close to the neighbor's land is a hostile act.


Maybe there's a less problematic place to put it?

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Pull it down, throw it away and replace it with NO TRESSPASSING signs every ten feet facing his property.

Subsequent measures like that often fall under the rubric of "Spite" and in most states there is a well developed body of common law that addresses things like Spite Lights etc. The courts frown on them.

[Dan Mages]

Some might argue that placing a compost heap right hard up against the edge of your land and close to the neighbor's land is a hostile act.


Maybe there's a less problematic place to put it?

Actually, this is the least problematic spot. My yard is rather sloped and this corner is hard to access by any of my neighbors and is well out of sight.

[Matt Meiser]

You are welcome to come get the crap that blows into my yard and put it in his. This spring I filled a trash can. Granted most of that was an inflatable swimming pool. On the other hand, I found a perfectly good 5 gallon bucket (I'm guessing that actually fell out of a truck when the power company was trimming rather than having blown all the way here.)

I'd have ripped up the fence, but I think the polite-but-firm letter suggestion is the best.

[Rob Damon]

You could always plant a row of pine trees every ten feet along your property line, then in years to come he will have pine needles and pine cones to deal with -or- roll up the fence and posts, get a huge box and crate and ship it back to him via UPS with a note "Thanks for the fence, but it not my birthday yet". . (just kidding)

I would have removed the fence, while cutting my grass, so it would not have looked like you were doing anything obnoxious or spiteful. Just set the fence back on the ground over on his property with a note. "Sorry, I have not been feeling well lately, and have fallen behind on my lawn care." And then let it go. If the fence shows up again, then he is showing true spitefulness. The second time I would remove it and leave a note saying, "if you want to continue putting up the fence, please do it on your property. Thanks."

Rob

[Joe Cunningham]

What you wanna bet if the place burns down, the Fire Marshal will be looking long and hard at you. Your obvious concern for the place's eyesore aspect will be what some might call "motive" and your frequent presence gave you "opportunity."

If it burns down, my house is a goner too, and likely much of the neighborhood. I think there is about 12 feet between our two houses (my other neighbor is about 8 feet away from me). And very old houses for the most part, 1850s-1870s.

But you do give good advice, I might be better off talking with the city's 'blight' commission first.

[Chris Padilla]

Good for you for taking the high road. Dicey neighbor situations are not fun.

Here's another take on the situation: He's lived his life, maybe (probably?) had some serious losses in the past few years, and doesn't tolerate change well (like many older people.) He's lonely but generally mistrustful of the world, and the new neighbors who haven't even had the respect to come over and say hello start blowing their trash in his yard.

My next door neighbor died a few years after we moved in, leaving a bitter and unfriendly widow who barely had the courtesy to say hello to us. But it certainly would have helped nothing for me to get technical about things. She started to complain about a short fence between our yards, that it was falling apart. I jumped in and offered to rebuild it, and "would you mind if it was a full 6' tall?" She mellowed out a lot with that.

I might try including a dinner invitation in that polite letter you write. I'm not judging your response, just offering an idea that might yield better results in the long term. Let me reiterate how impressive it is that you are already doing the right thing by not getting petty.

Good luck,

Carlos

Nicely done, Carlos.

Thankfully, I have a corner lot so I only have 1 neighbor to the side. I also have 2 neighbors behind me. I get along with and have done work with 2 of the neighbors so we're all peachy. The 3rd neighbor I have not met nor know nor do they do much of anything bothersome so life's fine in the 'hood.