privacy fence and concrete (Cincinnati: attorney, houses, neighborhood)

[zebra1954]

I installed a wood fence two years ago after discussing it with my neighbors. I was told property line was their garage. I installed the fence a foot from the garage onto my property. The neighbor wants to pour concrete patio in their back yard up to my fence. After talking to them I ask they do not pour concrete against the fence. Concrete would be a foot high up the fence making it impossible to replace boards. They have since had the property surveyed and the line is at a slight angel making my fence two inches on their property. Reason behind the surveying was so they could go forward with the concrete against the fence. Can I just remove the fence since I paid for it and installed it myself. Then request when they install a fence it be a foot on their property and not on the property line? I live 40 mile from the Cincinnati, Ohio rural area.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by zebra1954

I installed a wood fence two years ago after discussing it with my neighbors. I was told property line was their garage. I installed the fence a foot from the garage onto my property. The neighbor wants to pour concrete patio in their back yard up to my fence. After talking to them I ask they do not pour concrete against the fence. Concrete would be a foot high up the fence making it impossible to replace boards. They have since had the property surveyed and the line is at a slight angel making my fence two inches on their property. Reason behind the surveying was so they could go forward with the concrete against the fence. Can I just remove the fence since I paid for it and installed it myself. Then request when they install a fence it be a foot on their property and not on the property line? I live 40 mile from the Cincinnati, Ohio rural area.

You have to consult the local property zoning laws, which in a rural area may be quite vague. Typically you cannot place a fence on the property line, but have to be some distance, like a foot, from it. BTW, that foot on the other side of the fence is the fence owner's responsibility to trim, etc.

Also, surveying is not an exact science, particularly in rural areas. If you suspect this may mushroom into a nasty confrontation, commission your own survey. I will not be surprised if it produces contradictory results.

Also, why was their garage purported to be on the property line? Physical buildings must have a minimal setback. Who stated the garage was the property line? If they did hold them to it.

I would commission my own property survey, look at the two results, then approach them with OK who is going to relent? Will you agree to not pour your patio up against my wooden fence practically guaranteeing its deterioration? Or must we both waste money on attorney fees to fight this out? But let them know, if your survey results are different, you will fight them.

[$honey]

According to the Cincinnati code, a fence can be constructed up to the property line, buy not beyond. A garage (or other structure) must be 3 feet off all property lines. In researching info on the auditors page there are several properties I looked at that had structures that were built beyond the line (taking up space on the neighbor's property). These were older homes/structures (built 100+ years ago) and your guess would be as good as mine as to why things got sloppy. I remember when my parents wanted to increase their (free-standing) garage they could not do a tear down because one side was on or too close to the property line. They left one wall standing to be able to enlarge the garage.

Good luck. Sounds like things could get sticky.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by $honey

According to the Cincinnati code, a fence can be constructed up to the property line, buy not beyond. A garage (or other structure) must be 3 feet off all property lines.
Good luck. Sounds like things could get sticky.

The problem is you cited Cincinnati code. 40 miles from Cincinnati may and probably is different. You need to consult each jurisdiction. Some may not even have published restrictions on certain items. Others may surprise you. For instance, where I live you cannot fence in a front yard. Some people who have corner lots put up sections of split rail fence at the corner and planted them as climbing rose arbors. They were told to take them down even though they were clearly decorative and not a fence.

1/2 mile from me is a newer subdivision where my brother lives which has written into their covenants no fences period! The lots are on the small side compared to the houses and the majority of the property abuts a golf course. Apparently the developer felt fences would be disruptive to the general feeling and had the no fences built into the covenants. One property owner who purchased in the neighborhood apparently was not aware of the restrictions and had a very ornate wrought iron fence constructed around his rear yard. It was a beautiful and obviously expensive fence. But covenants are covenants and he had to pay to have it removed.

My neighborhood is older and varies betweem 2/3 and 1 acre lots, laid out back when land was cheap. So we don't argue too much about properety lines. One neighbor put a chain link fence around his back yard to contain a dog. I am reasonably sure he put the fence on the property line. We never even discussed it, why? we have plenty of distance between our houses.

But I know from past experience that property line disputes can get nasty. I got into one years ago when a survey discovered my neighbor's driveway was partially on my property. He had complained because I had installed a back yard fence to also contain a dog. He contended I had crossed the property line and was interfering with the access to his garage. I confirmed NO your driveway is on my property. We agreed to compromise to where I would angle the side fence so as to not obstruct his driveway access. We also agreed to document the fact his driveway was on my property but we had agreed on a compromise.