Adjoining land being built up a foot higher than mine

[TheWayISeeThings]

Have you had an appraisal recently? If not, I would. If the city has allowed zoning changes to affect your homes value, you are likely entitled to compensation, but should pursue it as early as possible so statute limitations don't expire.

[emm74]

That seems awful that they could rezone where you live to General Industrial! That had to have caused a big hit on your property value, although maybe someone who wanted a commercial site would pay for that.

And sorry about the neighbor business going under before you had any assurance of a remedy for problems. Glad that the water damage hasn't ended up happening but the tree issue does sound a bit scary. And I know it can cost a LOT to take down a big tree like that. Fingers crossed that it turns out to be ok.

Have you considered selling up and moving? Seems like it isn't a particularly homey environment anymore. But thank you very much for the update! I end up reading old threads without realizing it and never get to hear the end of the story, so it was nice to in this case!

[wishiniwashere]

What was the zoning of the adjoining property prior to the rezoning? That's an unusual occurrence if it was Single Family prior.

Did you neighbors object? I ask because it's one thing to buy knowing what it is compared to having it change, and a change to Industrial would impact your property value negatively as well as create the problems you have, after you buy.

North Beach, I'm not positive what the adjoining property zoning was, but the houses on my street were zoned Commercial in 1990 when I moved here; they must have been residential way back, because when they were built in the early 1900's, the street was a suburb, with no commerce or industry in the vicinity.

No one objected about the zoning change. I was too busy when it happened to tackle it, and no one else took it up, either. In the last few years, there have been a couple of other proposed zoning changes that could have affected our neighborhood negatively, and we got together and had a positive outcome in both situations. Now that we've had the experience of coordinating ourselves to work together, I think we have a better chance of responding effectively to future problems. We've talked about trying to get our zoning changed to residential, and I think that may be our next big initiative.

Have you had an appraisal recently? If not, I would. If the city has allowed zoning changes to affect your homes value, you are likely entitled to compensation, but should pursue it as early as possible so statute limitations don't expire.

Hi, WayISee, my own personal experiences and those of others have convinced me that it's not easy to force a city to do anything it doesn't want to do. Pursuing compensation for zoning changes that reduced our property values would be an expensive proposition (legal fees), and by no means assured of success.

I did file an appeal to have my tax assessment lowered, since my property is worth around half of what it was before the sand and gravel went in. Found out, after spending considerable time and effort to put together my filing, that the city virtually never grants a reduced tax assessment on its own; most appeals are denied, as mine was, and your recourse is to take your case before the state supreme court. Since granting me a reduction would open the door to every homeowner in my neighborhood following suit, my sense is that it's unlikely I'd be granted more than a token reduction if I pursued the matter.

Have you considered selling up and moving? Seems like it isn't a particularly homey environment anymore. But thank you very much for the update! I end up reading old threads without realizing it and never get to hear the end of the story, so it was nice to in this case! 04-18-2015 07:07 AM

Oddly enough, our neighborhood IS a homey environment. Maybe because we are just one small dead-end street surrounded by factories and industrial parks, we are close-knit. Everybody knows everybody else, and looks out for each other. Most of us have been here for years and are planning to stay. I do enjoy "fantasy moves", looking up other towns and states on Zillow and here on CityData, but in the end I realize that I really feel at home here, and don't know where I'd find another neighborhood as friendly as this one.

Thanks for posting the request for an update, Emm. I hadn't realized that I'd left the story unfinished, and I agree with you, it's always good to know what happens in the end!

[WebM]

Hi, I'm currently in this situatuion as a new home is being built next door to me. I have many pictures of the property before the foundation was dug and the land had a slight slope but now it's a hill and the house's basement windows are at the level of my main floor. Since my home was built six years ago it took two years to get my basement walls dry. I'm very concerned about this recurring. My husband spoke to the Excavater and he dug a swail to help prevent any water from collecting in our yard.

Our other concern is we no longer have privacy in the back yard. The deck next door is about twenty feet higher than our yard and we are open to their viewing. I had planned a six foot fence on the property line but I need once three times that height!

I do plan on calling the city engineer , and it seems like I'm always calling the builder inspector for something! I did contact an attorney and want their opinion as to how to handle the situation.
The builder is our builder as well. He "claims " he is not at fault but I know he has played a big part of the problem. He dumped all of our extra dirt on the property that is now being built on as to elevate and change the property. I do believe I have that in writing from him.
I'd appreciate any comments.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by WebM

Hi, I'm currently in this situatuion as a new home is being built next door to me. I have many pictures of the property before the foundation was dug and the land had a slight slope but now it's a hill and the house's basement windows are at the level of my main floor. Since my home was built six years ago it took two years to get my basement walls dry. I'm very concerned about this recurring. My husband spoke to the Excavater and he dug a swail to help prevent any water from collecting in our yard.

Our other concern is we no longer have privacy in the back yard. The deck next door is about twenty feet higher than our yard and we are open to their viewing. I had planned a six foot fence on the property line but I need once three times that height!

I do plan on calling the city engineer , and it seems like I'm always calling the builder inspector for something! I did contact an attorney and want their opinion as to how to handle the situation.
The builder is our builder as well. He "claims " he is not at fault but I know he has played a big part of the problem. He dumped all of our extra dirt on the property that is now being built on as to elevate and change the property. I do believe I have that in writing from him.
I'd appreciate any comments.

I suspect most attorneys would tell you that this not worth litigation as there is a presumption that vacant lots will eventually be developed. So long as there are no violations of local ordinances the courts are unlikely to provide any relief. Frankly even if the builder is violating some kind of local regulation about water run off the courts are extremely reluctant to enter into any such dispute...

If you already have a history with the city engineer / building inspector that has been POSITIVE for them and you I suppose they might be able to somewhat serve as a mediator and encourage the builder / new home owner to use appropriate landscape techniques to minimize any chance of run-off or loss of privacy but if your experience has been negative this is not too different that a "boy who calls wolf" and they might assume that you are pest even if there are legitimate violations. Not good.

Any chance there is a regional environmental authority? They could verify that the new construction might be doing something like causing excess erosion or damaging downstream wetlands, not necessarily the way I would play this but if there is harm to the broader community it makes sense to increase the awareness so there are more parties working on a good solution...

Odds are the builder did NOT in fact "pile all the extra dirt" from your property on the neighboring lot, most excavation results in a need for backfill equal to or greater than the amount removed for initial foundation. The temporary location of where the excavated material was held may have been adjacent lot but even that would mean potential for including surface soils / weeds in the backfill and most good excavations firms avoid such practices. I suppose if the builder did not follow standard procedure there are all kinds of problems that could have resulted, though again the burden of proof is on you to gather evidence of their failure to do things correctly. That is very difficult as presumably they are "expert" and you will have to find (and pay) experts to convince court of their negligence ... Backfilling Foundations | Backfilling a Foundation