ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Home - based business v. nasty neighbor

Reno, are you saying he should ask the guy to be a silent partner?
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I think I know this guys type, not enough to do..... I have a few of those in my neighbor hood. When I first moved in, got a cease work notice from the city, turns out a NAMELESS neighbor (who everyone stopped by to warn me about), had called the city to complain of unpermitted work at my address, for the sole reason of seeing my truck out front. We also have some landscape design nazi's who'll leave you a nasty-gram about the dandilions in you lawn, or un-kept hedges.... They are also keen on quoting no existant laws about what you can and can not do in the front, side, and rear set-backs of your house. If they had thier way, I'd have park away from my house outside the gates they would love to install. http://www.miralomapark.org/
(FYI - they will remove any contrary remarks from thier forum pages...)

They would kick me right out.

I happen to like the brown weeds I call my front yard.

My garage is a combination of peeling paint and moss covered stucco.....it looks very 'organic'

I am often out putting supplies in and out of the billboard that is the company van at 4:30 or 5 AM.

Not once have my neighbors complained.

Bob

My neighbor runs an excavation business out of his house. Right now he is devoloping a lot down the road, you could hear his dump truck tailgate slam at 10 oclock pm the other night. Do I care, no, other than that he is a great neighbor, why, he leaves me alone . Gotta love rural Maine when I hear about the crap you guys have to put up with.

e57, I had not looked at it in quite that way...but if it keeps him SILENT... :-)

We used to have a local radio show, where a local lawyer fielded questions. I never, ever heard a caller say "I'm an unreasonable busy-body who like to make trouble." No, it was always the other guy being 'out of touch.'

For example, I have heard two new residents complain about 'all the mobile homes around here'.... when they just moved into what was once listed by Guines as the "Worlds' largest trailer park!" And both of them thought I was being unreasonable for suggestion they go back where they came from!

Maybe, just possibly, YOU are the one who unwittingly violated some local taboo. After all, I've seen all sorts of silliness.
(Writing from Nevada, we have some trouble believing that gambling, full auto firearms, 24 hr drinking, or brothels would be outlawed anywhere. It just doesn't seem right...)

It is also quite possible the neighbor is a miserable busy-body, who would love to lord it over all. Which, perhaps, is why our Assembly only meets every other year... less opportunity to pass silly laws!

I took a pro-active role in my community. I ran for president of the home owners association and won. My platform was "mind your own business" and I respond to complaints with "get over it" a lot.
Most of our residents support me, 14 hate my guts. I sleep fine with that.

I'm surprised my neighbors don't complain to the trailer park I live in about my dad's work/Comcast Truck being parked in the empty lot across the street! The guy who lived behind that lot used to always complain about our porch not being "as perfect as can be." Guess what? His 1988 singlewide was just demolished last Friday! (Reasons unknown.) I got some weird looks cheering on the excavator driver's kids as they threw cinderblocks through the walls and windows.
Here, it has everything to do with how far from the main office you are. I'm right down the street from it, so I have 100s of additional, unofficial restrictions. If you go to the section down the small highway, they can and do do anything!
I want to move out of this place due to these crap restrictions, but my mother doesn't for some stupid reason. Plus, I don't want to be the one to sell a once $107K doublewide for scrap. (My father paid $29K for this 1973 singlewide back in 1986. It’s now worth scrap, if that.) When we move, we’re stripping it, down to the copper wire in the walls. Oh what an eyesore they'll have then, a trailer stripped of its siding and skirting. That excavator will be here in no time flat.

Ian A.
Morrisville Pa/Falls Twp.

[This message has been edited by Theelectrikid (edited 08-01-2006).]

You really have to meet these things head on. Our deed restrictions expired and the dozen little old ladies who ran this place assumed they could simply ram them back through in a board meeting that nobody would attend. I walked the neighborhood and knocked on everyone's door. We had several emergency meetings and each time the biddies were hoping they could get the votes but each time more people showed up saying no.
At the annual meeting the deed restrictions were finally voted down by a 4 to one margin in the highest turnout in the history of this 40 year old community.
You just have to ask people what they realy want and most will say they want to be left alone. Of course there still are those 14 people who hate my guts ;-)

Another simular SF story, which happened more times that can be counted here....

For instance: Some jerk flush with cashola decides he wants the "urban life", and goes to see his RE agent. Who then takes him to go see some stupid Live/Work loft one day. He shucks over $1M!

Moves in, and the first night realizes that that non-descript door across the street is a nightclub, or bar. (Reason #1 why live music is dead here now....) They can kill the music, but can't kill the bar....

Anyway, the moral of the story:

Some people like neighborhoods, but don't like neighbors.

Your neighbor needs to be taught a lesson and you are the one who needs to teach it to him/her. You cannot allow this to go without harsh and severe retaliation, because if you do your hell will only get worse. Don't listen to the appeasers, that you should try and make peace and all that. Your neighbor is vermin.

Renosteinke is SO RIGHT about a man's property being his, and should be able to do with it as he pleased. And even more to the point, regarding the "land of the free," and our taking delight in setting up deed restrictions, neighborhood councils, etc. for the express purpose of ensuring that nobody has any freedom couldn't be more DEAD ON!

Here's what you need to do to fix your neighbor:

1). Hire an attorney to protect your interests.

2). Obtain a survey of your property. If anything of your neighbors is even 1/64" on your property, start the ball rolling with lawsuits, etc.

3). If you've considerd adding an extension to your home, now is the time to do it. Get all the permits you could possibly need, and be sure all the I's are dotted and T's crossed. Do whatever you have to to ensure any such work is long, loud, and dispruptive -- within the limits of laws and codes. Start as early as the law allows, be as loud as noise ordinaces allow, finish as late as the law allows and use the brightest generator powered (loud) temporary lighting as lighting ordinances allow.

4). Upgrade you electric service, and demand the POCO shut down the power for your safety even if you always work live. Make sure you take as long as possible. Try to make some mistakes so power needs to be shut down for another day or more. Oh, and make sure you have a really loud generator (again within the law) to supply you and your family power, and be sure to flaunt the convenience, like air conditioning and ice cream on a hot day.

By the way, exercise the generator as often as possible.

5). Upgrade your gas service such that the street needs to be dug up and creates maximum disruption. Ditto for your water and sewer service.

6). Make sure you have cameras pointed at all angles of your neighbors house. If you see any repair trucks or work going on at all, check with the AHJ that all appropriate permits were filed. If not, send them the video and insist upon enforcement. Of course, if it’s a big project, let them finish first, so they have to start all over when the plans weren't filed.

7). If they do any work on their own vehicles, make sure all fluids are properly disposed of. If they do any HVAC or MVAC work, check to see if they’re recovering the refrigerant as required by law, and rat them out to the EPA as appropriate.

8). If fireworks are legal, make sure you celebrate 4th of July in a zealous and partriotic way, i.e. LOUD! And don’t limit yourself to the 4th either if the law allows.

9). If you’re subject to recycling laws, go through you neighbors garbage (this is legal) and make sure they’re recycling everything in accordance with the law. If not, get your camera out and document everything, making certain the house address shows in all photos.

10). If your neighbor has cable TV service, next time there is an outage, disconnect the cable from you house at the demarcation point (or from inside your house where no one can see) then hook up your meg tester to the provider side of the demarc and then crank away. Delight in hearing the pop and poof of expensive electronics exploding. You'll damage other neighbors components too, but that’s the collateral damage of war.

11). Try to create as much RFI interference as possible to screw up cordless phones, wi-fi, and other wireless devices.

12). Always make sure you use lawn maintenance equipment during the earliest and latest hours of the day as allowed by law.

13). Be sure to rub all of the above in your neighbors face every time you see him/her.

This is only a small sampling of what you can do to make your neighbors life miserable. Hopefully, others here will chime in with additional ideas. Of course, anything you do must be 100% within the law. Your success will be measured by:

a). Moving truck in front of your neighbors house.
b). Ambulance in front of your neighbors house.
c). Having your neighbor knock on your door begging for mercy.
d). All of the above.

And no, this is not coming from some 18 year old kid. I am 40 years old, and have spent too many years trying to make nice with my enemies and giving myself ulcers. Life is too short, so you should have fun and enjoy sticking it to others who so justly deserve and need it. Heck, you might even be the hero of the neighborhood.

Joe

If you decide to follow Joe's advice be sure you don't scrimp on #1.