Does the neighbors cutting down trees at our property line owe us an explanation? (hardwood, phone)
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The neighbor behind us is in the process of cutting down a number of very large trees that are at our property line. I do not know why and they are not at home to ask them. Our relationship has been polite, formal and distant in the past. I have not talked to them in about a year.
I have to assume the trees are his, but they are right at the property line. They have always been something to admire, large beautiful and so nice in the fall and spring. Why they are cutting them down is a mystery to me.
I thought about calling the police and tell them the tree men are trespassing in our yard and the owner of the trees are in dispute. I have not picked up the phone yet and the damage is mostly done.
Lets assume for the sake of argument that there is a logical reason for cutting them down. Would knocking at my door and explaining the actions ahead of time be the right thing to do, or because it is not in my property, it is not my business. (Even though the tree man have to come on my property to cut the trees)
I tried talking to the tree men but they do not speak English.
What would you do?
Last edited by Weekend Traveler; 04-28-2009 at 11:48 AM..
Why don't you know where your property line is? If you knew that beforehand, then issues like this wouldn't be issues. You'd know if the trees were his or yours.
As for reasons why...perhaps they are diseased and he has to get rid of them. Perhaps they're causing damage to his septic system somehow. Maybe they are hardwood and he's selling them.. Maybe they produce something that he or his family is allergic to, and he's seeking to alleviate that problem. There could be any number of reasons why he's cutting them down, and as long as they really are on his property there's nothing you can do about it.
I'd suggest finding out where your property line is, for starters.
Yes, basically if the trunk is on your neighbors property, he has every right to cut down the trees. If the trees are directly on the property line, it's my understanding both parties have to come to an agreement to cut the trees down (or not)- that's what happened to us. Our neighbor refused to let us cut down a "nuisance" tree that is directly on our property line.. At our old house, our neighbor behind us who we had never officially met, had a row of trees that were barely onto his property line that he did not maintain. The limbs would hang over onto our property & lay on our cedar fence causing damage. We were nice about it, never complained but hired people to cut the limbs all the way back to his property line. Even though it was his responsibility, we paid for it but never asked his permission. Had he wanted to cause a stink about it, we could have legally made him pay for the prunings.
As Zug stated, find out exactly where your property line is & then it will be clear who is in the right. Calling the police without that info (& just because the tree cutters are standing on your side of the line to do the work) is a little unnecessary if you are trying to keep neighborly relations. It will make you look like the unreasonable neighbor in the situation. If you had a good relationship with the neighbor, it would have been nice of them to give you a heads up, but certainly not necessary.
Looking out at the stumps that use to be 80 foot tall trees makes me sad. I should have called the police and maybe that would have least slowed the process down. Our property value is affected.
I just read that before anyone in the neighborhood can cut down trees they need the approval of the homeowner association board. This was not done. Maybe the board can sue them. I will look into it.
There are a number of municipalities in this country where you cannot cut down a tree without a permit, and you cannot get a permit without demonstrating some need to do so. Yours is obviously not one of them. However, if this proves to be a flagrant example, it might be worthwhile taking the matter to the council and at least proposing that an ordinance be established requiring a tree-cutting permit.
A parallel kind of ordinance would be that of New Orleans, where in the French Quarter, you cannot replace your front door-knob without having it approved (for style and appearance) by the Vieux Carre Commission. A town's trees can similarly be classified as "visual assets" which belong to the community at large, in spite of any private property that they may rest on.
Rules vary from state to state, county to county, town to town, and even community to community. I think I would have found out the rules as soon as there was an indication that the trees would be/were being cut. I also think that anyone who comes on MY property to cut down ANYthing had danged well better have the law on their side, in writing, or they will be met with twin barrels at the very least. I have gone from owning 1/3 of an acre to 60 acres, and no one steps onto my property in either case without talking to me first - to do anything. I will cut back my neighbors' trees to their property line (if absolutely necessary), because the laws where I have been say that any branch that crosses the property line is mine - but not the tree itself. The only exception to this that I am aware of is trees that grow up through communal electrical lines - then it is the electric company's responsibility.
The ordinances may require them to replant trees or merely pay a fine. Some folks do this because the fine is soo low that it is cheaper to do it than to pay for a permit. I've dealt with developers who thought they could strip a plot with minimal fines - until OCRM got involved. Trees suck up a great deal of water, and by cutting them your neighbor could turn dryland into a swamp, totally damaging an ecosystem. This needs to be investigated more thouroughly, because the neighbor may not have just damaged your esthetics but your drainage, your wind protection, even the quality and viability of your property including the resale value.
I'm sorry to hear the trees are gone. Someone should have given you a heads up if anyone was to be in your yard even if the trees aren't yours. Common manners seem to have been lost.
Neighborliness is always a contentious issue, and always will be.
I know an elderly woman who lives alone, and depends on her next door neighbor, who is a good-hearted and considerate man. He plows her driveway, he repairs her car, he takes care of her place while she is gone, he knows how to get things done and how to fix things. He also burns his trash, including plastic. Sometimes my friend, who has compromised health, needs to go away for awhile when he is burning.
She has tried to bring to his attention that it is medically harmful to her and to the entire community for him to burn plastic. But she is reluctant tp press the issue, or to say it is illegal, because to some minds, that can sound like a threat to have him arrested.
So----when do the benefits of a good neighbor outweigh the problems of a bad neighbor?
Something a lot worse recenlty happened to me regarding personal trees and a Hispanic neighbor so I purchased a 20-acre farm with that particular neighbor about 350 miles away in another state. My closest neighbor is now about 3/4 mile away and whether or not he exhibits the crazy, or just racist, tendencies of my former neighbor, concerns me little.
If its his property & his tree's I'd offer him a hand.
Its none of my business what someone else does to their property unless it hurts mine. If you feel it devalued your land petition the town for a reassessment & try to get your taxes lowered.
I'm about as against a community of nosy bodies telling a person what they can & cant do with their own property as a person can be.
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