This story from the Sonoma Press Democrat reminds of a case I had once where a homeowner trimmed some trees (well he felled them actually) on State Park lands adjacent to his property, as the neighbor had told him it was ok.
He was mortified to find out it was not of and that he may face jail time and a very stiff fine and restititution. My client settled out of court without a trial and no criminal record. It's a shame this guy's lawyer didn't work out a deal to prevent the outcome. Sending a hedge fund manager in front of a jury in these economic times not such a good ploy.
Of course, I do not know all the facts and so cannot really second guess that decision.
Read on:
Jail time for trimming trees in state park
Mendocino County jury convicts SF hedge fund manager of vandalism
By MIKE GENIELLATHE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 4:30 a.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 3:42 a.m.
UKIAH -- A wealthy San Francisco hedge fund manager faces five days in Mendocino County Jail after being convicted of illegally trimming trees along a popular trail in Van Damme State Park, which adjoins his luxury vacation retreat.
Derek Webb, 49, a benefactor to North Bay land trusts and environmental groups, is scheduled to begin serving the jail time on Oct. 7.
Webb's jail sentence was ordered after a Ukiah jury last Friday convicted the asset manager of a misdemeanor vandalism charge. Superior Court Judge Richard Henderson also ordered Webb to perform 50 hours of community service.
County prosecutors on Tuesday hailed Webb's conviction, saying that it sends a message that a "person's deeds as a public benefactor does not exempt him from the rule of law."
District Attorney Meredith Lintott said state parks representatives pushed for prosecution, and "We thank them for their role in protecting the public's land."
But Webb's attorney, Rod Jones of Mendocino, said Tuesday that the prosecution pronouncements left him "speechless," given that Webb had been convicted of a misdemeanor, not the felony sought by prosecutors. "Were they in the same courtroom?" asked Jones.
He said the jail sentence seems to be a stretch.
"Jurors understood what was at issue, and they didn't see it as a felony crime deserving jail time," said Jones.
Webb couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday, but Jones said his client was deeply disappointed at the outcome, especially the jail sentence.
Webb's conviction stems from an incident in October, 2007 when a state parks official saw him using a chain saw to trim back tree branches along a heavily used trail on the south side of Van Damme park. Webb owns adjoining property, including a landmark coastal farm called Spring Ranch.
Prosecutors said coast parks Supt. Marilyn Murphy was off duty at the time and walking her dogs along the trail when she came upon Webb.
Murphy testified that Webb insisted he was only trying to help the state maintain the trail and that he thought it unnecessary to have to seek permission from the "bureaucracy."
Prosecutors told jurors that Webb seriously harmed the stand of tan oak, coast and Monterey pine trees by trimming them improperly.
Jones said Webb is so dismayed by the local prosecution that he may rethink his involvement in community events.
Since 2006, Webb has hosted dinners and donated stays at his retreat, which features a restored six-bedroom Victorian house dating to the 1860s. Rental fees for a two-night stay ranges up to $1,563, according to the Spring Ranch Web site.
You can reach Staff Writer Mike Geniella at 462-6470 or mgeniella@pressdemocrat.com.
A newsletter on land use, tree law, property and boundary issues and general environmental topics. What's new in CEQA, neighbor law and beyond.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Back on the Radio in September!
HI all fans of Land Use News. I am happy to report that I am back on the Len Tillem ("I'm a lawyah!") show (KGO, AM 810) on Sunday September 14, 6-7 PM. Listen and call in. I will talk about easements because that's what you all seem to want to hear about. Let me know if you have other pressing concerns.
Also, I am expanding my business with a new name Green Legal Solutions. I will help small businesses with their green legal needs, certification issues and others. I will of course continue to work with individuals on tree and property issues, and with groups on environmental protection, including California Environmental Quality Act issues and more.
Stay tuned.
Dotty
Also, I am expanding my business with a new name Green Legal Solutions. I will help small businesses with their green legal needs, certification issues and others. I will of course continue to work with individuals on tree and property issues, and with groups on environmental protection, including California Environmental Quality Act issues and more.
Stay tuned.
Dotty
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Finally on the Len Tillem Show!
After two false starts - first I got the flu and had to cancel the morning the show was scheduled, then after I drove to the studio and sat through the first half of the show, the system crashed - finally I got my hour on the Len Tillem Show, about a month ago.
It was great fun, as caller after caller told us about their boundary disputes, tree and fence issues and more. Len is fun to be on the air with and the hour went by quickly. When I got home I had several emails from people who had tuned in. I'm still getting responses.
The best part was Len asked me back in September, so if you missed the show, tune in September 7 at 6 PM (barring technical difficulties of course), or leave your comment on this blog.
See you on the radio!
It was great fun, as caller after caller told us about their boundary disputes, tree and fence issues and more. Len is fun to be on the air with and the hour went by quickly. When I got home I had several emails from people who had tuned in. I'm still getting responses.
The best part was Len asked me back in September, so if you missed the show, tune in September 7 at 6 PM (barring technical difficulties of course), or leave your comment on this blog.
See you on the radio!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Land Use News Goes Live!
Listen up! Land Use News will be going live on the Len Tillem show on KGO radio, Sunday, February 17, from 6-7 PM. If you're within hearing distance, listen and call in. Len is interviewing me on issues of land use and tree law. This is a great radio program generally. Len is a great radio personality and a fount of wisdom. Funny and acerbic with his callers, he always gives them good advice. Tune in, KGO radio, 810 on your AM dial.
If you can't hear the show through the ether, go to http://kgoam810.com/sectional.asp?id=17036
Thanks for reading and listening. Your comments welcome here.
If you can't hear the show through the ether, go to http://kgoam810.com/sectional.asp?id=17036
Thanks for reading and listening. Your comments welcome here.
Friday, October 26, 2007
My Husband, the Fire Ecologist in the News
My husband, fire ecologist and SF Chronicle columnist (Ask an Arborist, 1st Saturday of the month, plug plug) is quoted in this article on fire storms.
Wooded hillsides, narrow roads make Bay Area a 'disaster waiting to happen'
Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The right combination of the wrong conditions could create a firestorm in the Bay Area every bit as devastating as the one savaging Southern California, fire experts say - and nowhere is that danger more acute than in sleepy Mill Valley.
There, sprinkled throughout the lushly forested slopes of Mount Tamalpais, lie some of the Bay Area's most expensive houses. The beauty is double-edged: The same verdant slopes that draw the wealthy and the famous also harbor heavy underbrush and trees that have not burned for nearly 80 years. And the narrow, twisting roads that give the town's neighborhoods their charm would turn into death traps with the first wreck during an evacuation.
All that is needed to light up this residential wonderland would be a couple of weeks of hot sun, a strong easterly wind and a spark of some kind, experts say.
With enough bad luck, it could happen next month, after the recent rains dry completely off.
"The fire conditions there and on the mountain in general are absolutely horrendous," said Ray Moritz, a Sausalito-based fire ecologist who advises fire departments all over the Bay Area. "The fuel load (potentially flammable wood) is tremendous. It's a disaster waiting to happen."
The Bay Area's other hot zones of high risk are not far behind.
Similar conditions - houses nestled in thick growth on hillsides with hard-to-negotiate, narrow roads - exist in parts of Contra Costa, Alameda and San Mateo counties. A lot of progress toward standardizing fire hydrant fittings, radio communications and construction requirements has been made all over the Bay Area in the past 15 years, but in those three areas in particular, there is still a lot of catching up to do.
To residents, such areas are just enclaves of fine houses in beautiful wooded settings. Fire experts call them wildland interface zones.
"A lot of the hills areas in Berkeley and Oakland, in and around where that awful 1991 Hills Fire happened, are still at great risk," said Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Chief Keith Richter, who coordinates mutual aid for fire departments from Oregon to Monterey. "On the other side of the hills, in parts of Orinda, Lafayette and Walnut Creek, conditions are also ripe."
He said road widths of at least 22 feet, allowing for fire engine movement even in a jam, have become common in new construction sites. But there are still a lot of old neighborhoods in the East Bay hills where the modern era has not caught up.
"Areas like the little community of Canyon, the south ends of Lafayette and Orinda - those are real hot spots for us," Richter said.
If a blaze began chewing up the dry brush and oaks of Contra Costa badly enough, Richter said, most fleeing residents would be sheltered at schools with fields that could act as firebreaks, such as Stanley Middle School in Lafayette. Concord Pavilion could house thousands in a pinch.
On the other side of the hills, schools like Oakland Technical High School were evacuation points in the 1991 blaze. Oakland's Coliseum could act as a gathering point if things got chaotic enough.
There are those who lived through the 1991 disaster who have no doubt chaos would happen.
"There are quite a few spots where the city hasn't been able to widen the roads, and on the ones that have been improved, we now often have a problem of too many cars," said David Kessler of Oakland, who lost his house in 1991 and heads the North Hills Phoenix Association of fire-conscious residents. He pointed to Charing Cross Road, where six people died in narrow roadways trying to flee the Hills Fire.
"And on Bristol and Buckingham roads, the city has allowed a lot of big houses, and people park where they shouldn't.
"What if someone is holding a big party along one of those roads when a fire breaks out? Nobody will be able to drive past the cars, and we'll have the same disaster we had all those years ago."
Fire ecologist Moritz said the same concerns can be found in the San Mateo County hills around Woodside, though the danger of fatalities is lessened by the sparseness of the population there. Vaca Mountain, east of Napa, is also considered by fire experts a potential tinderbox, though it too, is thinly populated.
But when fire planners gather to ponder how best to gird for the next big blaze, Moritz and his fellows always pull out the map of Mill Valley and its surrounding communities.
The last big fire there was in 1929, and it burned 1,000 acres and 115 homes. Since then, the population of the area and the size and value of the houses have soared.
The worst-case scenario, Moritz said, would involve a major earthquake during high fire season. Considering that the Bay Area is overdue for a major quake by at least a decade, by many seismic estimates, this is not out of the question. The region's most catastrophic quake in modern times, Loma Prieta in 1989, and the most catastrophic fire, 1991's Oakland Hills Fire, both happened in October.
"If you get a big quake and fires break out, it would be impossible to block the advance of the blazes around Mount Tam," Moritz said. "The roads would be blocked or damaged by the quake, services cut off, emergency personnel overwhelmed handling the quake. Very quickly, the fires could get so powerful that dumping retardant on them with helicopters and airplanes would be like spitting on them."
That was the scenario in the 1991 Hills Fire, which turned 2,900 homes to ash and killed 25 people. The same thing happened in Marin County's worst fire, the Mount Vision Fire, in 1995. It roared out of control near Tomales Bay State Park for a week, destroying 12,350 acres, forcing 500 people to evacuate and destroying 45 homes. It's what's happening now in Southern California.
Mill Valley's 13,600 residents are particularly vulnerable to such a fire because the town is situated among canyons and arroyos that would turn into blowtorches in a major blaze. Many of the hillside streets are dead-ends and 4 to 10 feet narrower than the recommended 22-foot width. A skinny roadway means one good stall would put fleeing residents on foot and force fire engines to re-route, wasting valuable time.
"Say the fire begins with an offshore wind," Moritz said, like the one that helped spread the Mount Vision Fire. "It creeps downhill, then it gets pushed by one of our easterly winds, which are Marin County's version of the Santa Ana winds - hot, blowing in from the east and very strong.
"You could have fire burning from the top of the mountain, and from down below, and all those people on foot because the roads were blocked would be trapped in between them."
In a worst-case disaster, every town around Mill Valley would be subjected to flames, and the conflagration would end only when it had burned either to the bay on the east or the ocean on the west. Just counting the bigger towns from Kentfield to Sausalito and over the mountain to Stinson Beach, that means nearly 50,000 people and more than 23,000 homes would be at risk.
Those who live in the danger zone shrug off the nasty possibilities as part of the bargain for getting to live in one of the most desirable areas of the country; Mill Valley's median home price is $1.25 million. Most give at least some thought to preparation. But once you've cleared brush around the house, refitted the roof with fire-retardant shingles and the like, there's not much else to do but hope fate treats you kindly, they say.
"We're very focused on thinning our trees, keeping the roadways clear and cutting our underbrush, but not matter what you do, man takes a gamble when he comes into areas like this that are historically hot and have naturally occurring fire," said Barbara Sykes, 75, who has lived in her shingle-sided, hand-crafted mountain house on a slope overlooking Mill Valley since 1976.
From the sprawling porch at the back side of her home, Sykes has a view all the way to the Bay Bridge. Mill Valley looks like a fairyland of wooded cottages; the homes of rockers Sammy Hagar and Carlos Santana are minutes away.
"I'm a real nature lover," she said Wednesday. "But when that easterly wind starts blowing, I always realize that if a fire happens here, the best we can do is just try to get out of the way."
A few miles up Mount Tamalpais, at the Throckmorton Ridge Fire Station, Marin County Fire Department engineer Don Keylon cast a wary eye on how vigorously the winds were flapping the flags at the station entrance. The wind was blowing about 10 miles per hour, and he didn't like that.
"We regularly take the fuel moisture reading here, and the fuel load right now is at 64 percent," he said. That means the moisture is at 64 percent of normal in the wood.
"Sixty-six percent is what we consider critical, so I'd say we have to be pretty careful right now," Keylon said. He pointed to a wide canyon leading from Mill Valley straight up to his 900-foot-elevation station.
"If a fire comes up through one of the drainages (cuts in the land) down there, it'll be kind of like a chimney," he said.
"Like a blowtorch. Not good."
Past California wildfires
Some of the worst wildfires in California since the 1930s, based on deaths, destruction or acreage burned:
October 2003: Near San Diego; 273,000 acres; 4,847 structures destroyed; 15 deaths. Cause: accidentally started by a hunter. It was among 15 wildfires that killed 22 people, destroyed 3,640 homes and blackened 750,000 acres of Southern California over two weeks.
November 1993: Malibu area of Los Angeles County; 18,000 acres; 323 homes destroyed; three deaths. Cause: arson. It was among more than 20 fires that killed four people, destroyed more than 1,000 homes and consumed 193,814 acres over two weeks.
October 1991: Oakland hills; 1,520 acres; 3,276 homes and apartments destroyed; 25 people killed. Cause: A flying ember from a fire believed to have been contained ignited a tree.
November 1980: San Bernardino Mountain foothills east of Los Angeles; 23,600 acres; 325 homes destroyed; four dead. Cause: arson.
September 1970: San Diego County mountains; 175,425 acres; 382 structures destroyed; six dead. Cause: power lines.
November 1966: Near Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County; 2,028 acres, 12 firefighters killed; Cause: power line.
November 1961: Los Angeles County; 6,090 acres; 484 homes destroyed; Cause: believed accidental.
July 1953: Glenn County, Northern California; 1,300 acres; 15 firefighters killed. Cause: arson.
October 1933: Los Angeles County; 47 acres; 29 welfare workers clearing brush killed. Cause: undetermined.
July 1929: Mill Valley; 1,000 acres, at least 100 homes lost. Cause: undetermined.
The Associated Press and Chronicle staff
E-mail Kevin Fagan at kfagan@sfchronicle.com.
Wooded hillsides, narrow roads make Bay Area a 'disaster waiting to happen'
Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The right combination of the wrong conditions could create a firestorm in the Bay Area every bit as devastating as the one savaging Southern California, fire experts say - and nowhere is that danger more acute than in sleepy Mill Valley.
There, sprinkled throughout the lushly forested slopes of Mount Tamalpais, lie some of the Bay Area's most expensive houses. The beauty is double-edged: The same verdant slopes that draw the wealthy and the famous also harbor heavy underbrush and trees that have not burned for nearly 80 years. And the narrow, twisting roads that give the town's neighborhoods their charm would turn into death traps with the first wreck during an evacuation.
All that is needed to light up this residential wonderland would be a couple of weeks of hot sun, a strong easterly wind and a spark of some kind, experts say.
With enough bad luck, it could happen next month, after the recent rains dry completely off.
"The fire conditions there and on the mountain in general are absolutely horrendous," said Ray Moritz, a Sausalito-based fire ecologist who advises fire departments all over the Bay Area. "The fuel load (potentially flammable wood) is tremendous. It's a disaster waiting to happen."
The Bay Area's other hot zones of high risk are not far behind.
Similar conditions - houses nestled in thick growth on hillsides with hard-to-negotiate, narrow roads - exist in parts of Contra Costa, Alameda and San Mateo counties. A lot of progress toward standardizing fire hydrant fittings, radio communications and construction requirements has been made all over the Bay Area in the past 15 years, but in those three areas in particular, there is still a lot of catching up to do.
To residents, such areas are just enclaves of fine houses in beautiful wooded settings. Fire experts call them wildland interface zones.
"A lot of the hills areas in Berkeley and Oakland, in and around where that awful 1991 Hills Fire happened, are still at great risk," said Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Chief Keith Richter, who coordinates mutual aid for fire departments from Oregon to Monterey. "On the other side of the hills, in parts of Orinda, Lafayette and Walnut Creek, conditions are also ripe."
He said road widths of at least 22 feet, allowing for fire engine movement even in a jam, have become common in new construction sites. But there are still a lot of old neighborhoods in the East Bay hills where the modern era has not caught up.
"Areas like the little community of Canyon, the south ends of Lafayette and Orinda - those are real hot spots for us," Richter said.
If a blaze began chewing up the dry brush and oaks of Contra Costa badly enough, Richter said, most fleeing residents would be sheltered at schools with fields that could act as firebreaks, such as Stanley Middle School in Lafayette. Concord Pavilion could house thousands in a pinch.
On the other side of the hills, schools like Oakland Technical High School were evacuation points in the 1991 blaze. Oakland's Coliseum could act as a gathering point if things got chaotic enough.
There are those who lived through the 1991 disaster who have no doubt chaos would happen.
"There are quite a few spots where the city hasn't been able to widen the roads, and on the ones that have been improved, we now often have a problem of too many cars," said David Kessler of Oakland, who lost his house in 1991 and heads the North Hills Phoenix Association of fire-conscious residents. He pointed to Charing Cross Road, where six people died in narrow roadways trying to flee the Hills Fire.
"And on Bristol and Buckingham roads, the city has allowed a lot of big houses, and people park where they shouldn't.
"What if someone is holding a big party along one of those roads when a fire breaks out? Nobody will be able to drive past the cars, and we'll have the same disaster we had all those years ago."
Fire ecologist Moritz said the same concerns can be found in the San Mateo County hills around Woodside, though the danger of fatalities is lessened by the sparseness of the population there. Vaca Mountain, east of Napa, is also considered by fire experts a potential tinderbox, though it too, is thinly populated.
But when fire planners gather to ponder how best to gird for the next big blaze, Moritz and his fellows always pull out the map of Mill Valley and its surrounding communities.
The last big fire there was in 1929, and it burned 1,000 acres and 115 homes. Since then, the population of the area and the size and value of the houses have soared.
The worst-case scenario, Moritz said, would involve a major earthquake during high fire season. Considering that the Bay Area is overdue for a major quake by at least a decade, by many seismic estimates, this is not out of the question. The region's most catastrophic quake in modern times, Loma Prieta in 1989, and the most catastrophic fire, 1991's Oakland Hills Fire, both happened in October.
"If you get a big quake and fires break out, it would be impossible to block the advance of the blazes around Mount Tam," Moritz said. "The roads would be blocked or damaged by the quake, services cut off, emergency personnel overwhelmed handling the quake. Very quickly, the fires could get so powerful that dumping retardant on them with helicopters and airplanes would be like spitting on them."
That was the scenario in the 1991 Hills Fire, which turned 2,900 homes to ash and killed 25 people. The same thing happened in Marin County's worst fire, the Mount Vision Fire, in 1995. It roared out of control near Tomales Bay State Park for a week, destroying 12,350 acres, forcing 500 people to evacuate and destroying 45 homes. It's what's happening now in Southern California.
Mill Valley's 13,600 residents are particularly vulnerable to such a fire because the town is situated among canyons and arroyos that would turn into blowtorches in a major blaze. Many of the hillside streets are dead-ends and 4 to 10 feet narrower than the recommended 22-foot width. A skinny roadway means one good stall would put fleeing residents on foot and force fire engines to re-route, wasting valuable time.
"Say the fire begins with an offshore wind," Moritz said, like the one that helped spread the Mount Vision Fire. "It creeps downhill, then it gets pushed by one of our easterly winds, which are Marin County's version of the Santa Ana winds - hot, blowing in from the east and very strong.
"You could have fire burning from the top of the mountain, and from down below, and all those people on foot because the roads were blocked would be trapped in between them."
In a worst-case disaster, every town around Mill Valley would be subjected to flames, and the conflagration would end only when it had burned either to the bay on the east or the ocean on the west. Just counting the bigger towns from Kentfield to Sausalito and over the mountain to Stinson Beach, that means nearly 50,000 people and more than 23,000 homes would be at risk.
Those who live in the danger zone shrug off the nasty possibilities as part of the bargain for getting to live in one of the most desirable areas of the country; Mill Valley's median home price is $1.25 million. Most give at least some thought to preparation. But once you've cleared brush around the house, refitted the roof with fire-retardant shingles and the like, there's not much else to do but hope fate treats you kindly, they say.
"We're very focused on thinning our trees, keeping the roadways clear and cutting our underbrush, but not matter what you do, man takes a gamble when he comes into areas like this that are historically hot and have naturally occurring fire," said Barbara Sykes, 75, who has lived in her shingle-sided, hand-crafted mountain house on a slope overlooking Mill Valley since 1976.
From the sprawling porch at the back side of her home, Sykes has a view all the way to the Bay Bridge. Mill Valley looks like a fairyland of wooded cottages; the homes of rockers Sammy Hagar and Carlos Santana are minutes away.
"I'm a real nature lover," she said Wednesday. "But when that easterly wind starts blowing, I always realize that if a fire happens here, the best we can do is just try to get out of the way."
A few miles up Mount Tamalpais, at the Throckmorton Ridge Fire Station, Marin County Fire Department engineer Don Keylon cast a wary eye on how vigorously the winds were flapping the flags at the station entrance. The wind was blowing about 10 miles per hour, and he didn't like that.
"We regularly take the fuel moisture reading here, and the fuel load right now is at 64 percent," he said. That means the moisture is at 64 percent of normal in the wood.
"Sixty-six percent is what we consider critical, so I'd say we have to be pretty careful right now," Keylon said. He pointed to a wide canyon leading from Mill Valley straight up to his 900-foot-elevation station.
"If a fire comes up through one of the drainages (cuts in the land) down there, it'll be kind of like a chimney," he said.
"Like a blowtorch. Not good."
Past California wildfires
Some of the worst wildfires in California since the 1930s, based on deaths, destruction or acreage burned:
October 2003: Near San Diego; 273,000 acres; 4,847 structures destroyed; 15 deaths. Cause: accidentally started by a hunter. It was among 15 wildfires that killed 22 people, destroyed 3,640 homes and blackened 750,000 acres of Southern California over two weeks.
November 1993: Malibu area of Los Angeles County; 18,000 acres; 323 homes destroyed; three deaths. Cause: arson. It was among more than 20 fires that killed four people, destroyed more than 1,000 homes and consumed 193,814 acres over two weeks.
October 1991: Oakland hills; 1,520 acres; 3,276 homes and apartments destroyed; 25 people killed. Cause: A flying ember from a fire believed to have been contained ignited a tree.
November 1980: San Bernardino Mountain foothills east of Los Angeles; 23,600 acres; 325 homes destroyed; four dead. Cause: arson.
September 1970: San Diego County mountains; 175,425 acres; 382 structures destroyed; six dead. Cause: power lines.
November 1966: Near Angeles National Forest in Los Angeles County; 2,028 acres, 12 firefighters killed; Cause: power line.
November 1961: Los Angeles County; 6,090 acres; 484 homes destroyed; Cause: believed accidental.
July 1953: Glenn County, Northern California; 1,300 acres; 15 firefighters killed. Cause: arson.
October 1933: Los Angeles County; 47 acres; 29 welfare workers clearing brush killed. Cause: undetermined.
July 1929: Mill Valley; 1,000 acres, at least 100 homes lost. Cause: undetermined.
The Associated Press and Chronicle staff
E-mail Kevin Fagan at kfagan@sfchronicle.com.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Shrubbery dispute leads Anaheim woman, 65, to shoot neighbor, police say
By Dave Mckibben, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 11:11 AM PDT, October 1, 2007
A landscaping dispute on a quiet Anaheim Hills street turned violent Sunday afternoon when a 65-year-old woman shot her neighbor in the shoulder and then barricaded herself in her house before surrendering, authorities said. Police said the argument began about 3 p.m. when Anita Spriggs apparently started trimming the hedges of a fence she shared with her next-door neighbor, 64-year-old Gary Hall.
"Spriggs then grabbed a handgun and shot the victim in the shoulder," said Sgt. Rick Martinez of the Anaheim Police Department. "We're not sure where she got the gun."
"Neighborhood disputes are not unusual," Martinez said. "But for it to elevate to this, especially on a quiet Sunday afternoon in a quiet neighborhood, is rare."Hall was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana with non-life-threatening injuries. Raylene Hall, his wife, said Sunday's altercation was not the first her husband has had with Spriggs. "This has happened many, many times before," she said.Raylene Hall said this morning that her husband is still in the hospital.
"The bullet went through his shoulder and shattered it," she said. After the shooting, Spriggs went back into her house. About a dozen officers blocked off the street and evacuated surrounding neighbors on East Greensboro Lane. Over the next 90 minutes, police tried to persuade Spriggs to come out with a bullhorn and by phone. She surrendered just before a SWAT team arrived.
Spriggs was booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder.dave.mckibben@latimes.com
By Dave Mckibben, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 11:11 AM PDT, October 1, 2007
A landscaping dispute on a quiet Anaheim Hills street turned violent Sunday afternoon when a 65-year-old woman shot her neighbor in the shoulder and then barricaded herself in her house before surrendering, authorities said. Police said the argument began about 3 p.m. when Anita Spriggs apparently started trimming the hedges of a fence she shared with her next-door neighbor, 64-year-old Gary Hall.
"Spriggs then grabbed a handgun and shot the victim in the shoulder," said Sgt. Rick Martinez of the Anaheim Police Department. "We're not sure where she got the gun."
"Neighborhood disputes are not unusual," Martinez said. "But for it to elevate to this, especially on a quiet Sunday afternoon in a quiet neighborhood, is rare."Hall was taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana with non-life-threatening injuries. Raylene Hall, his wife, said Sunday's altercation was not the first her husband has had with Spriggs. "This has happened many, many times before," she said.Raylene Hall said this morning that her husband is still in the hospital.
"The bullet went through his shoulder and shattered it," she said. After the shooting, Spriggs went back into her house. About a dozen officers blocked off the street and evacuated surrounding neighbors on East Greensboro Lane. Over the next 90 minutes, police tried to persuade Spriggs to come out with a bullhorn and by phone. She surrendered just before a SWAT team arrived.
Spriggs was booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder.dave.mckibben@latimes.com
Friday, September 14, 2007
My Lost Blog
Bizarrely, this Blog vanished and reappeared as an Indian Blog. Now after complaining to Google, I've got my Blog back, sort of.
They stuck a 0 into the url and left my old Blog title with the Indians.
This can only confuse my loyal readers; I hope youa re finding me with the 0 (zero) and will continue reading.
I am truly in the dark as to how this happened. If any of my readers have a clue, let me in on it.
Thanks.
Dotty
They stuck a 0 into the url and left my old Blog title with the Indians.
This can only confuse my loyal readers; I hope youa re finding me with the 0 (zero) and will continue reading.
I am truly in the dark as to how this happened. If any of my readers have a clue, let me in on it.
Thanks.
Dotty
Friday, May 11, 2007
EcoSpeakers
I'm pleased to let you all know that both Ray Moritz (the popular San Francisco Chronicle "Ask an Arborist" columnist and, not incidentally, my husband) and I have both joined the team of EcoSpeakers on the subject of the Greening the Urban Environment. The EcoSpeakers homepage is at http://www.ecospeakers.com This is a great organization which provides speakers on many environmental issues.
You can also check out Ray's column on the first Saturday of the month in the SF Chronicle Home section or at sfgate.com http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/qws/ff/qr?term=%22ask+an+Arborist%22&Submit=S&st=s or click on the Ask an Arborist link above.
In other news, I am pleased that this Blog is generating interest and I have been fielding calls from all over the state! Thanks for reading Land Use News. Your comments are most welcome.
Dotty
coastlaw@earthlink.net
Ray will talk mostly about his work in urban forestry, helping home owners and public agencies with tree issues. He's also a fire ecologist, so much of his work is in that area. As a "forensic forestor," Ray works with attorneys on legal cases involving trees, including wildland fire, tree hazards and liability issues. He's also a very entertaining speaker.
We are pleased to join the likes of L. Hunter Lovins, Paul Ehrlich, Huey Johnson, Betsty Rosenberg and others who are members of EcoSpeakers.You can also check out Ray's column on the first Saturday of the month in the SF Chronicle Home section or at sfgate.com http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/qws/ff/qr?term=%22ask+an+Arborist%22&Submit=S&st=s or click on the Ask an Arborist link above.
In other news, I am pleased that this Blog is generating interest and I have been fielding calls from all over the state! Thanks for reading Land Use News. Your comments are most welcome.
Dotty
coastlaw@earthlink.net
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
More on the Baffling Boundary Trees
or LOOK BEFORE YOU LOP!
A commenter writes that a tree overhanging her dock was causing a concern it might fall and damage the dock. She had trimmed overhanging branches before, and the neighbor had never complainted. So she thought since the tree leaned her way, if was ok to cut it down.
Whoops! The neighbor has now taken her to Small Claims court, where the damage limit is up to $7500.
What should she do? She thinks the trunk might actually have been on the property line; if so, she may be liable for only half the value of the tree, since she would be responsible for half its upkeep. If it was truly in danger of falling and causing damage, its value would be lower and its hazard potenial higher. Too bad she didn't have it assessed by a consulting arborist before taking matters into her own hands.
Nevertheless, it is not too late for her to get expert advise. She can still have a consulting arborist assess the situation. Does she have photos of the tree before she cut it down? Is there any wood left that can be evaluated for disease or other stressers that may have devalued the tree?
Another step may be to have a survey done to determine if it was truly on the property line. All of these things can be costly however, so she may want to negotiate with the neighbor over the value of the tree and cost to replace with one that won't overhang her dock.
The moral of this story might be summed up as "Look before you Lop." In the long run, you can save time, money and your relationship with your neighbor if you get all the facts and are willing to work things out first.
A commenter writes that a tree overhanging her dock was causing a concern it might fall and damage the dock. She had trimmed overhanging branches before, and the neighbor had never complainted. So she thought since the tree leaned her way, if was ok to cut it down.
Whoops! The neighbor has now taken her to Small Claims court, where the damage limit is up to $7500.
What should she do? She thinks the trunk might actually have been on the property line; if so, she may be liable for only half the value of the tree, since she would be responsible for half its upkeep. If it was truly in danger of falling and causing damage, its value would be lower and its hazard potenial higher. Too bad she didn't have it assessed by a consulting arborist before taking matters into her own hands.
Nevertheless, it is not too late for her to get expert advise. She can still have a consulting arborist assess the situation. Does she have photos of the tree before she cut it down? Is there any wood left that can be evaluated for disease or other stressers that may have devalued the tree?
Another step may be to have a survey done to determine if it was truly on the property line. All of these things can be costly however, so she may want to negotiate with the neighbor over the value of the tree and cost to replace with one that won't overhang her dock.
The moral of this story might be summed up as "Look before you Lop." In the long run, you can save time, money and your relationship with your neighbor if you get all the facts and are willing to work things out first.
Friday, September 15, 2006
PROPOSITION 90 IS WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING
Eminent Domain Reform Bill really “Taxpayer Deception” Bill
No one wants their family home or small business uprooted so that some developer or mega corporation can move in. Nor does this happen very often. But to hear the carping of the proponents of Proposition 90, the so called “Protect our Homes” initiative, this is a daily occurrence that must be diligently guarded against.
Not so. To be sure, there are abuses. Last year’s Kelo case in New London Connecticut, in which the Supreme Court upheld the Town’s use of eminent domain, the power of a governmental agency to take private property for public benefit, to take modest single family homes for the purpose of putting in a pharmaceutical factory under the rationale that the local economy would get a much needed boost, being the most famous.
We can find some right here in the Bay area. The once culturally diverse and thriving Fillmore District was transformed into the Western Addition with many a politician’s pocket lined in the process. The popular Marin City Flea Market is now the site of a dreary and underutilized shopping mall. And in Oakland, small auto repair and tire shops are scheduled to be replaced by more upscale retail operations. All to boost economic development under the government’s redevelopment powers.
If our legislature had acted in the wake of Kelo and passed its own laws, modifying the definition of blight and defining what is and what is not a public benefit, we might not see Proposition 90 on the ballot this November. But it didn’t act, and so the vacuum was filled by an eager band of property rights advocates headed by New York developer Howard Rich. Rich and his friends are stumping all over this nation with their “reform” message. And fearful homeowners are falling for it, often to their dismay, when the true costs of “reform” are revealed.
Think we’ve got problems now? If Proposition 90 goes into effect, no neighborhood, family farm or community will be safe from developers keen to squeeze every cent out of every square foot of property they can get their hands on.
Just ask our neighbors to the north. Oregon’s Measure 37, passed in 2004 as eminent domain reform, has resulted in the wholesale gutting of what were once the strictest environmental protections and sound planning practices in the nation.
Besides requiring that no private property be taken for purely economic benefit, Proposition 90 contains the following clause:
This clause allows any landowner to sue any governmental agency for any action which they claim devalues their land. This would include such mainstays of good planning as downzoning, restricting the use of airspace and zoning that prohibits mining or other environmentally dangerous activities. This means that laws restricting heights of buildings to preserve sunlight or views or to maintain historic character may be fair game under this law, according to the California Legislative Analyst’s office.
And the law is not limited to real estate but could apply to any “property” including liquor licenses (so there go laws restricting liquor stores near schools), your good name as a consumer (those lists maintained by your utility and credit card companies are property after all) and a myriad of other intangibles not generally considered property under standard land use laws.
In Oregon, which used to have some of the strongest environmental protections and smart growth practices in the nation, Measure 37 has threatened to cost taxpayers millions in lawsuits against regulations that property owners claim devalue their property. The result has been that local agencies, strapped for the cash to defend these regulations, have caved in to developers allowing massive residential and commercial developments, including mining operations, where strict regulations previously protected the environment and the residents of the State.
These measures trot out sympathetic faces to advertise their benefits, the farmer whose land was taken for development, the tire store operator whose shop was replaced with a shopping mall, the grandmother whose lifelong home was seized so that a drug company could relocate there. No one doubts there are abuses of redevelopment and eminent domain laws. But Proposition 90 is not the answer. So far it has been opposed by major environmental groups, the League of Women Voters, League of California Cities and many major newspapers.
But then so was Oregon’s Measure 37. It still passed owing to the false and misleading propaganda those who favor it blast out on the airwaves. Major players besides Mr. Rich and his band of merry developers are the Republican Party and the Libertarian Cato Institute. Big development money is expected to hide its ugly mug behind sad faces of displaced homeowners or actors portraying them.
You know the drill: “I never though this could happen in America. The government came and took my family home, the one my grandfather built with his own two hands. And they’re putting up a giant paper mill that will pollute our river. They say it’s for jobs and economic benefit of our community. I say it’s big government run amok. We need Proposition 90 to protect our homes.”
Ok, I invented that ad myself, but you get the drift. The developers and big business will too, so expect those kinds of ads to play this fall. The irony is, Proposition 90 is actually going to make it easier for the polluting paper companies to build in our State if we don’t stop this wolf in sheep’s clothing in November.
Dotty E. LeMieux
Dotty E. LeMieux is a land use lawyer and political consultant in Marin County. She can be reached at coastlaw@earthlink.net
A version of this article appeared in the Marin Independent Journal on 9/14/06
No one wants their family home or small business uprooted so that some developer or mega corporation can move in. Nor does this happen very often. But to hear the carping of the proponents of Proposition 90, the so called “Protect our Homes” initiative, this is a daily occurrence that must be diligently guarded against.
Not so. To be sure, there are abuses. Last year’s Kelo case in New London Connecticut, in which the Supreme Court upheld the Town’s use of eminent domain, the power of a governmental agency to take private property for public benefit, to take modest single family homes for the purpose of putting in a pharmaceutical factory under the rationale that the local economy would get a much needed boost, being the most famous.
We can find some right here in the Bay area. The once culturally diverse and thriving Fillmore District was transformed into the Western Addition with many a politician’s pocket lined in the process. The popular Marin City Flea Market is now the site of a dreary and underutilized shopping mall. And in Oakland, small auto repair and tire shops are scheduled to be replaced by more upscale retail operations. All to boost economic development under the government’s redevelopment powers.
If our legislature had acted in the wake of Kelo and passed its own laws, modifying the definition of blight and defining what is and what is not a public benefit, we might not see Proposition 90 on the ballot this November. But it didn’t act, and so the vacuum was filled by an eager band of property rights advocates headed by New York developer Howard Rich. Rich and his friends are stumping all over this nation with their “reform” message. And fearful homeowners are falling for it, often to their dismay, when the true costs of “reform” are revealed.
Think we’ve got problems now? If Proposition 90 goes into effect, no neighborhood, family farm or community will be safe from developers keen to squeeze every cent out of every square foot of property they can get their hands on.
Just ask our neighbors to the north. Oregon’s Measure 37, passed in 2004 as eminent domain reform, has resulted in the wholesale gutting of what were once the strictest environmental protections and sound planning practices in the nation.
Besides requiring that no private property be taken for purely economic benefit, Proposition 90 contains the following clause:
“Except when taken to protect public health and safety, ‘damage’ to private property includes government actions that result in substantial economic loss to private property. Examples of substantial economic loss include, but are not limited to, the down zoning of private property, the elimination of any access to private property, and limitations on the use of private air space. ‘Government action’ shall mean any statute, charter provision, ordinance, resolution, law, rule or regulation.”
This clause allows any landowner to sue any governmental agency for any action which they claim devalues their land. This would include such mainstays of good planning as downzoning, restricting the use of airspace and zoning that prohibits mining or other environmentally dangerous activities. This means that laws restricting heights of buildings to preserve sunlight or views or to maintain historic character may be fair game under this law, according to the California Legislative Analyst’s office.
And the law is not limited to real estate but could apply to any “property” including liquor licenses (so there go laws restricting liquor stores near schools), your good name as a consumer (those lists maintained by your utility and credit card companies are property after all) and a myriad of other intangibles not generally considered property under standard land use laws.
In Oregon, which used to have some of the strongest environmental protections and smart growth practices in the nation, Measure 37 has threatened to cost taxpayers millions in lawsuits against regulations that property owners claim devalue their property. The result has been that local agencies, strapped for the cash to defend these regulations, have caved in to developers allowing massive residential and commercial developments, including mining operations, where strict regulations previously protected the environment and the residents of the State.
These measures trot out sympathetic faces to advertise their benefits, the farmer whose land was taken for development, the tire store operator whose shop was replaced with a shopping mall, the grandmother whose lifelong home was seized so that a drug company could relocate there. No one doubts there are abuses of redevelopment and eminent domain laws. But Proposition 90 is not the answer. So far it has been opposed by major environmental groups, the League of Women Voters, League of California Cities and many major newspapers.
But then so was Oregon’s Measure 37. It still passed owing to the false and misleading propaganda those who favor it blast out on the airwaves. Major players besides Mr. Rich and his band of merry developers are the Republican Party and the Libertarian Cato Institute. Big development money is expected to hide its ugly mug behind sad faces of displaced homeowners or actors portraying them.
You know the drill: “I never though this could happen in America. The government came and took my family home, the one my grandfather built with his own two hands. And they’re putting up a giant paper mill that will pollute our river. They say it’s for jobs and economic benefit of our community. I say it’s big government run amok. We need Proposition 90 to protect our homes.”
Ok, I invented that ad myself, but you get the drift. The developers and big business will too, so expect those kinds of ads to play this fall. The irony is, Proposition 90 is actually going to make it easier for the polluting paper companies to build in our State if we don’t stop this wolf in sheep’s clothing in November.
Dotty E. LeMieux
Dotty E. LeMieux is a land use lawyer and political consultant in Marin County. She can be reached at coastlaw@earthlink.net
A version of this article appeared in the Marin Independent Journal on 9/14/06
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
TROUBLE ON THE BORDER
By Dotty E. LeMieux
No this isn’t about immigration or the Israeli-Palestine question. The border is closer to home and one that affects all of us as homeowners.
It’s the boundary line between you and your neighbors, and it has been scene of as many pitted battles as any international border between warring states.
Simple as ivy on the wall or water under the fence, or complex as dual ownership of boundary trees or uncertainty over where the property line really is, these spats can turn into deadly feuds, reminiscent of the legendary Hatfields and McCoys of West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky Hill Country.
Although neighbor battles don’t usually result in bloodshed, they can be lethal for trees, shrubs and other vegetation, as many hapless property owners have learned.
“The Fruit of the Poison Tree”
Any one who has experience with Criminal Law knows that expression coined to cover information gathered in an illegal search or seizure. In the context of neighbor disputes, it can often be quite literal. Neighbors have been known to spike trees whose overhanging limbs dropped debris into their yard with herbicides, to sprinkle poison over fences to kill neighbors’ prized azaleas and even to lob strychnine laced hamburger to quiet a barking dog.
These acts are all illegal, and can result in severe penalties, possibly even criminal sanctions.
More common are the cases of lethal wounds to encroaching roots or overhanging limbs. If your neighbor’s tree is overhanging your property or its roots pushing through the fence and surfacing under your garden walk, there are measures you can take, short of murder.
Root and branches may be trimmed to the property line so long as the trimming does not damage the structural integrity of the tree. You need a trained professional to assess this. Do it yourselfers should proceed with caution.
As I always advise my clients, talk to the neighbors first; they may not be aware that their beloved pine tree is driving you crazy with windfall and pine needles.
Trees that Straddle the Fence
A situation that sometimes occurs is that of trees whose trunks are on both sides of the property line. These are known as boundary trees and pose unique problems, since each neighbor is mutually responsibly for their care and upkeep, and responsible for any liabilities.
Problems arise when neighbors disagree about the care of a boundary tree. When one neighbor’s view is blocked by a rapidly growing tree, while the other values the privacy the tree provides, an impasse is often the result. Neither neighbor can take unilateral action. If a tree is diseased and threatening to fall on one neighbor’s house and the other neighbor refuses to have it removed, the first neighbor may be forced to sue the other for his half of the cost.
Get a good appraisal of the health of the tree and cost to remediate the problem or remove the tree. Think about panting replacements that you and the neighbor both choose. If you go in with well developed information and a plan to keep a good relationship with your neighbor, chances are he will be more amenable to your desires, especially if you offer to pay more than your half of the cost.
The Case of the Missing Boundary Line
You buy an older house in a nice neighborhood with the help of a reputable realtor. You have your deed, the description of your land and the 1942 subdivision map. You decide to repair the sagging wire fence on the property line with a nice redwood plank one. You start putting up your fence posts, only to be greeted with a shout of protest from your neighbor. What’s happening? He just had a survey done to determine the setback so he could enlarge his home, and guess what? What you thought was the property line, wasn’t.
“But” you sputter, “My realtor said this fence marked the property line.” Thought is the operative word. Unless you have a survey of your own showing conclusively that the fence does mark the line, you may be out of luck. The lesson? Don’t rely on out of date subdivision maps. Make sure you know just where your property starts and ends, on the ground, not on a map.
Wandering Cats, Dogs and Vegetation
Your neighbor’s overgrown Tom cat Fluffy has taken to stalking your own Foo Foo, who likes to preen herself in the sun, but now is forced to take refuge in the house whenever that mean old Fluffy comes prowling around. And he doesn’t just say hello either; he caterwauls and leaves messy calling cards. You complain to your neighbor and demand he do something about his wayward pet. But he ignores you, shocked that anyone would consider his precious Fluffy less than loveable.
Meanwhile, the neighbors on the other side leave their home under the protection of Spike, a yappy little teacup sized dog whose constant shrilling is driving you to drink.
Not only that, the Ivy they planted as an easy to maintain border is now enveloping your side of the fence, threatening to strangle the wisteria and honeysuckle you’ve been cultivating.
What is a hapless homeowner to do? First check your town’s cat and dog ordinances. Many Towns and Counties have ordinances restricting the number of cats or dogs that may be kept, noise and nuisance ordinances. There are also ordinances providing sanctions for “dangerous” dogs. And mediation is always an option. The County of Marin has a pet mediator, just for these occasions. There is not, to my knowledge, any plant mediator, but maybe there ought to be.
The ivy can be cut back by you to the fence line and if all of these problems persist, consult an attorney specializing in neighbor law or check with the excellent Nolo Press book of the same title. (Go to www.nolo.com to see about ordering it and other excellent self-help legal guides.)
A Note about Noise
Neighbors and noise go together like picnics and ants, summer and sunburns. Unless you live a long way out in the country miles from the nearest human habitation, you’re going to get noise pollution. Chain saws, weed whackers, children’s parties, loud stereos and barking dogs come with suburban life.
But there’s no reason to suffer in silence. Again, talk to the noise neighbors, nicely. Keep your voice low so they’ll get the message. And if they don’t, there are laws that regulate the noise level in neighborhoods.
An example of noises to be avoided is contained in the San Rafael Municipal Code, section 8.13.030 (Loud or unusual noises prohibited):
That just about says it all. Wracked nerves, disturbed peace and neighbor issues generally are the stuff of local law enforcement daily life. Just read the sheriff’s calls in small town papers like the Pt. Reyes Light and you’ll see that you are not alone win having Troubles on the Border.
Dotty E. LeMieux is an attorney specializing in tree, neighbor and environmental law in San Rafael. She may be reached at coastlaw@earthlink.com
Published in Marinscope papers, real estate section, August, 2006
No this isn’t about immigration or the Israeli-Palestine question. The border is closer to home and one that affects all of us as homeowners.
It’s the boundary line between you and your neighbors, and it has been scene of as many pitted battles as any international border between warring states.
Simple as ivy on the wall or water under the fence, or complex as dual ownership of boundary trees or uncertainty over where the property line really is, these spats can turn into deadly feuds, reminiscent of the legendary Hatfields and McCoys of West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky Hill Country.
Although neighbor battles don’t usually result in bloodshed, they can be lethal for trees, shrubs and other vegetation, as many hapless property owners have learned.
“The Fruit of the Poison Tree”
Any one who has experience with Criminal Law knows that expression coined to cover information gathered in an illegal search or seizure. In the context of neighbor disputes, it can often be quite literal. Neighbors have been known to spike trees whose overhanging limbs dropped debris into their yard with herbicides, to sprinkle poison over fences to kill neighbors’ prized azaleas and even to lob strychnine laced hamburger to quiet a barking dog.
These acts are all illegal, and can result in severe penalties, possibly even criminal sanctions.
More common are the cases of lethal wounds to encroaching roots or overhanging limbs. If your neighbor’s tree is overhanging your property or its roots pushing through the fence and surfacing under your garden walk, there are measures you can take, short of murder.
Root and branches may be trimmed to the property line so long as the trimming does not damage the structural integrity of the tree. You need a trained professional to assess this. Do it yourselfers should proceed with caution.
As I always advise my clients, talk to the neighbors first; they may not be aware that their beloved pine tree is driving you crazy with windfall and pine needles.
Trees that Straddle the Fence
A situation that sometimes occurs is that of trees whose trunks are on both sides of the property line. These are known as boundary trees and pose unique problems, since each neighbor is mutually responsibly for their care and upkeep, and responsible for any liabilities.
Problems arise when neighbors disagree about the care of a boundary tree. When one neighbor’s view is blocked by a rapidly growing tree, while the other values the privacy the tree provides, an impasse is often the result. Neither neighbor can take unilateral action. If a tree is diseased and threatening to fall on one neighbor’s house and the other neighbor refuses to have it removed, the first neighbor may be forced to sue the other for his half of the cost.
Get a good appraisal of the health of the tree and cost to remediate the problem or remove the tree. Think about panting replacements that you and the neighbor both choose. If you go in with well developed information and a plan to keep a good relationship with your neighbor, chances are he will be more amenable to your desires, especially if you offer to pay more than your half of the cost.
The Case of the Missing Boundary Line
You buy an older house in a nice neighborhood with the help of a reputable realtor. You have your deed, the description of your land and the 1942 subdivision map. You decide to repair the sagging wire fence on the property line with a nice redwood plank one. You start putting up your fence posts, only to be greeted with a shout of protest from your neighbor. What’s happening? He just had a survey done to determine the setback so he could enlarge his home, and guess what? What you thought was the property line, wasn’t.
“But” you sputter, “My realtor said this fence marked the property line.” Thought is the operative word. Unless you have a survey of your own showing conclusively that the fence does mark the line, you may be out of luck. The lesson? Don’t rely on out of date subdivision maps. Make sure you know just where your property starts and ends, on the ground, not on a map.
Wandering Cats, Dogs and Vegetation
Your neighbor’s overgrown Tom cat Fluffy has taken to stalking your own Foo Foo, who likes to preen herself in the sun, but now is forced to take refuge in the house whenever that mean old Fluffy comes prowling around. And he doesn’t just say hello either; he caterwauls and leaves messy calling cards. You complain to your neighbor and demand he do something about his wayward pet. But he ignores you, shocked that anyone would consider his precious Fluffy less than loveable.
Meanwhile, the neighbors on the other side leave their home under the protection of Spike, a yappy little teacup sized dog whose constant shrilling is driving you to drink.
Not only that, the Ivy they planted as an easy to maintain border is now enveloping your side of the fence, threatening to strangle the wisteria and honeysuckle you’ve been cultivating.
What is a hapless homeowner to do? First check your town’s cat and dog ordinances. Many Towns and Counties have ordinances restricting the number of cats or dogs that may be kept, noise and nuisance ordinances. There are also ordinances providing sanctions for “dangerous” dogs. And mediation is always an option. The County of Marin has a pet mediator, just for these occasions. There is not, to my knowledge, any plant mediator, but maybe there ought to be.
The ivy can be cut back by you to the fence line and if all of these problems persist, consult an attorney specializing in neighbor law or check with the excellent Nolo Press book of the same title. (Go to www.nolo.com to see about ordering it and other excellent self-help legal guides.)
A Note about Noise
Neighbors and noise go together like picnics and ants, summer and sunburns. Unless you live a long way out in the country miles from the nearest human habitation, you’re going to get noise pollution. Chain saws, weed whackers, children’s parties, loud stereos and barking dogs come with suburban life.
But there’s no reason to suffer in silence. Again, talk to the noise neighbors, nicely. Keep your voice low so they’ll get the message. And if they don’t, there are laws that regulate the noise level in neighborhoods.
An example of noises to be avoided is contained in the San Rafael Municipal Code, section 8.13.030 (Loud or unusual noises prohibited):
“No person shall maintain, emit or make, or cause, suffer or permit to be maintained, emitted or made, any noise or sound produced by human, animal, mechanical or other means, which by reason of its raucous or nerve-wracking nature, shall disturb the peace or comfort or be injurious to the health of any person or person”
That just about says it all. Wracked nerves, disturbed peace and neighbor issues generally are the stuff of local law enforcement daily life. Just read the sheriff’s calls in small town papers like the Pt. Reyes Light and you’ll see that you are not alone win having Troubles on the Border.
Dotty E. LeMieux is an attorney specializing in tree, neighbor and environmental law in San Rafael. She may be reached at coastlaw@earthlink.com
Published in Marinscope papers, real estate section, August, 2006
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Practical Politics
PRACTICAL POLITICS CLASS NEARS
As many of you know, besides practicing land use law, I work as a political consultant. Sometimes these two roles go hand in hand. Anyone who's been involved in an environmental battle can tell you that.
So in case any of you are interested in the practical side of politics, check out my class at the College of Marin Saturday September 16, 2006, from 10-4 PM. Anyone running for office, thinking of running for office or working with a campaign are especially invited to join us.
We will, as always, go over some basics for activists, that can be used in campaigns or in your neighborhood battles.
Email me with any questions: del@greendogcampaigns.com
PRACTICAL POLITICS
How YOU can be an Activist for Your Community
"All politics is local" -Tip O'Neill
Dotty LeMieux’s community activist training class will be held at the College of Marin, Saturday September 16, from 10 AM to 4 PM. Learn how to be a more effective activist for your cause.
Environmental: Are you reviewing an EIR for a project in your neighborhood, fighting big box retail or struggling to preserve wetlands?
Social: Would you like your local government to be more responsive to community needs in the areas of affordable housing, transit or other pressing neighborhood issues?
Political: Have you thought about running for office yourself or working for a candidate or ballot measure to make changes in your community?
This training may be just what you’re looking for. Meet like minded people and hear their stories. Gain new allies and learn new techniques in working for your cause or candidate Topics include:
• Telling our stories, campaigns won and lost, what you are doing now in your community!
• Frame that issue: How to get your message just right
• Tracking the elusive volunteers
• Getting the Press to pay attention
• Creating effective materials to carry your message to the streets, City Hall or Washington
• Finding likely and unlikely allies. Learn why "The enemy of my enemy is my Friend."
• Yes, you CAN raise money! Tips to help you get over your fear.
• Planning your next steps; An activist's work is never done!
Successful students of past classes have won elected office offices, led citizen petition drives and become effective at getting their message across in public hearings and in the press.
It would be helpful, but not required, if students read George Lakoff’s Don’t think of an Elephant before the class. Binders with class material provided to each student.
Yes, you CAN make a difference!
Go to http://marincommunityed.org/regist/resources/index.htm
to register
As many of you know, besides practicing land use law, I work as a political consultant. Sometimes these two roles go hand in hand. Anyone who's been involved in an environmental battle can tell you that.
So in case any of you are interested in the practical side of politics, check out my class at the College of Marin Saturday September 16, 2006, from 10-4 PM. Anyone running for office, thinking of running for office or working with a campaign are especially invited to join us.
We will, as always, go over some basics for activists, that can be used in campaigns or in your neighborhood battles.
Email me with any questions: del@greendogcampaigns.com
PRACTICAL POLITICS
How YOU can be an Activist for Your Community
"All politics is local" -Tip O'Neill
Dotty LeMieux’s community activist training class will be held at the College of Marin, Saturday September 16, from 10 AM to 4 PM. Learn how to be a more effective activist for your cause.
Environmental: Are you reviewing an EIR for a project in your neighborhood, fighting big box retail or struggling to preserve wetlands?
Social: Would you like your local government to be more responsive to community needs in the areas of affordable housing, transit or other pressing neighborhood issues?
Political: Have you thought about running for office yourself or working for a candidate or ballot measure to make changes in your community?
This training may be just what you’re looking for. Meet like minded people and hear their stories. Gain new allies and learn new techniques in working for your cause or candidate Topics include:
• Telling our stories, campaigns won and lost, what you are doing now in your community!
• Frame that issue: How to get your message just right
• Tracking the elusive volunteers
• Getting the Press to pay attention
• Creating effective materials to carry your message to the streets, City Hall or Washington
• Finding likely and unlikely allies. Learn why "The enemy of my enemy is my Friend."
• Yes, you CAN raise money! Tips to help you get over your fear.
• Planning your next steps; An activist's work is never done!
Successful students of past classes have won elected office offices, led citizen petition drives and become effective at getting their message across in public hearings and in the press.
It would be helpful, but not required, if students read George Lakoff’s Don’t think of an Elephant before the class. Binders with class material provided to each student.
Yes, you CAN make a difference!
Go to http://marincommunityed.org/regist/resources/index.htm
to register
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