Five Points Yard - Overgrown or Owner's Right? (Auburn, Madison: fit in, home)

[Nlambert]

Originally Posted by deesonic

I believe when you live in a community in an incorporated city you must conform to some standard that will not impinge on the rights of others. This guys property is clearly a hazard (workers had to duck under trees and the owner even told them to watch their step in certain places). It damages the property values of neighbors. I know when I house hunt, I don't just look at the house I am looking to buy. I take in the neighborhood and nature infested houses are a deterrent. The city's standards have been in place well before 1999, so he's not grandfathered in any way. I grew up in the city of Huntsville and can remember being warned to cut our grass a time or two. I can remember my dad being told to remove an old camper shell off the back porch or be fined. And yeah, I'm one of those folks who live in the county now and do what I please. There are some shamefully ugly houses within a mile of me, but I know I must accept that out here. Conversely, I would expect myself and neighbors to live by a set of standards if I were to move back into an incorporated town.

Now, I sense there is an ulterior motive in this discussion and I love freedom as much as the next guy. But I don't think we all necessarily have the freedom or right to live like slobs to the detriment of society at large or even to your closest neighbors. Freedom doesn't mean "screw all, I do what I want." The idea that he is going for some woodland feel is utter bs. I pulled that house up on Google Earth and bottom line is dude needs to clean that Boo Radley mess up! Maybe his neighbors would even pitch in if he'd make half an effort. So I'm not as forgiving as most of you and I live in the county where I do what the heck I want!

What does Boo Radley have to do with this? I seriously would like to know.

[FayettevilletoHuntsville]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

UPDATE: The City of Huntsville is cleaning up the yard:



Huntsville forcibly cuts Five Points yard said to be the most overgrown in city | AL.com

I took a picture this morning (keep in mind that the City will be billing Hessler for the costs of cleanup):

They must be done or mostly done because I don't see any overgrowth in that picture unless his property is around the corner?

And I kinda hate to say this since some of you apparently dis-agree with the City of Huntsville's decision to force him to clean up his property but I think this will be a good thing for Five Points and his neighbors.

[FayettevilletoHuntsville]

Originally Posted by BMW Dave

This individual lives in a Nationally recognized Historic District. I presume he has lived there for sometime and his deed would predate ANY recent improvements the area has struggled to make.

I can't believe the city is even bothering him to trim it up or whatever. He should be allowed to do as he pleases with his property as he has lived there before '99 when the rejuvenation started.

I looked this up....

The grass and weed ordinance does apply to all properties in the city limits of Huntsville, not just the Five Points historic district: City of Huntsville, Alabama *** Huntsville *** Alabama *** HuntsvilleAL.gov

On the Five Points Historic District Association web site they have Huntsville Community Development listed as who to call for grass violations: Five Points Historic District Association

[AuburnAL]

People should mind their own business. The folks complaining to the city about the guy's yard should get a life if they don't have anything worth thinking about better than this.

[Madmom2000]

I took a picture this morning (keep in mind that the City will be billing Hessler for the costs of cleanup):

[/quote]

I wonder if he will even pay the bill? I can't imagine how much it would be but judging by all the trucks it looks like it was a pretty big crew. I guess if he doesn't pay they put a lien on his house? But that doesn't come into play until he tries to sell.

I disagree with the previous poster that said property values were not important and reflective or the responsibility of the property owner. That it IS our responsibility if we live in a community to keep our property in such a way that it's not a health or safety hazard. If he has no regard then he should have bought acreage and built a shack on it. Just my .02.

[AU HSV]

Originally Posted by AuburnAL

People should mind their own business. The folks complaining to the city about the guy's yard should get a life if they don't have anything worth thinking about better than this.

people should obey the law, it became their business when this slob didn't

[Reactionary]

Madmom2000 = "I wonder if he will even pay the bill?"

The homeowner is a nice guy with a good job; he'll pay the bill. I counted 10 men working this morning, many of them were still there this afternoon - the City is gonna punish him for fighting City Hall. Note that they didn't clean up the back yard or behind the (front yard) privacy fence.

IMO he should have gotten a different attorney; his attorney is a Democrat who may not have believed as strongly in individual rights as a good Republican attorney would have (however, no representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers).

[FayettevilletoHuntsville]

Originally Posted by Madmom2000

I wonder if he will even pay the bill? I can't imagine how much it would be but judging by all the trucks it looks like it was a pretty big crew. I guess if he doesn't pay they put a lien on his house? But that doesn't come into play until he tries to sell.

I disagree with the previous poster that said property values were not important and reflective or the responsibility of the property owner. That it IS our responsibility if we live in a community to keep our property in such a way that it's not a health or safety hazard. If he has no regard then he should have bought acreage and built a shack on it. Just my .02.

They will in fact place a lien on his property if he does not pay the bill. You can actually view a list of City of Huntsville properties that have liens on them on the Huntsville community development page that I posted earlier: www.huntsvilleal.gov/comdev/index.php

If you're interested scroll down where it says:

NUISANCE PROPERTY LIENS
The properties listed were in violation of the City of Huntsville Nuisance Codes for grass and weeds, junk and litter, or housing code violations. The owners either failed or refused to voluntarily comply and the City had to abate the nuisance and place a lien against the property.

And under this there are 3 links that have addresses of properties that were in violation and it even lists the amounts that were charged. I'm betting pretty soon his address will be on there and it will show the amount charged.

[todd00]

This is why I'd never live in a city again. Cities have so many more important problems to deal with. This house isn't an abandoned falling apart structure. I do think he should have kept that grassy area in front mowed but past that it's up to him if he wants a hideaway or a completely stark landscape. Because he likes trees and bushes better than clearly seeing cars, people and the concrete out his windows he gets labeled the bad neighbor for not conforming like everyone else. They can't get a good look at his house and we can't have that now can we.

Nuisances come in all forms, it can be cars parked everywhere but in their driveways, or an early basketball game interrupting a quiet morning. It can be bloodcurdling screams from kids all in the name of play, or dogs barking, engines revving, hammering and repairs, loud music playing, or parties that last too long. These kinds of things can be much more of a neighborhood nuisance and disturbance to the peace and well being of the residents than the sound of grass growing and birds chirping in the trees in one man's yard.

I would bet they will charge him a small fortune as it's gotta be personal to them by now and they want to make an example of him.

[MisterEd51]

I just looked at the article where they showed the front yard. We used to have a house on our block that was worse than that. Nobody complained until a neighbor got a close look at the inside of the house. The house apparently had had no utilities for a long time. The smell was pretty bad. There were even rats running around inside the house. The neighbor that saw this reported it to the city. The front yard was cleaned up like was done with the house on Pratt Avenue. After that the inside of the house had to be cleaned out for health reasons. The owner of the house was forced to move out and sell the property.