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Plant sweet gums and shackle IHLs to them with long chains
“The lesson to be learned here probably is that one property owner usually cannot take unilateral action which might injure a boundary line tree, and probably also that one should always exercise caution in dealing with or doing things which might injure a neighbor’s tree, whether the issue is the trimming of encroaching branches...”
...that is not the same as losing property.
It is certainly the same as losing the right to put a fence around your property which I think most people would consider a loss of property.
Extra credit. Plant sweet gums and shackle IHLs to them with long chains.
So, if you don’t like your neighbor, just plant (preferably fast growing) trees along your fence line and you will soon have them at your mercy. This is all now perfectly legal, there is nothing anyone can do to stop you. Btw, if you are thinking of buying a house, this little fact is not mentioned in any of the so-called disclosure documents.
since these are "city" trees, so I'm not allowed to cut mine down..
Anyway, my whole street has sweet gums between the sidewalk and street. They are now 50+ years old and pushing up the sidewalk, breaking into the sewage
In CA trees enjoy more rights and protection than people. It is very easy to evict a person in CA but almost impossible to evict a tree.
This goes against established precedent Expect this to be overturnef
Actually this is the precedent. It was a decision made in 1994 in Booksa v Patel and it has not been overturned.
Any deforestation in CA is a direct result of Suburban Sprawl which was promoted by the No Growrg NIMBY Sierra Club crowd
CA courts have ruled that if your neighbor plants a tree next to a fence you share, you cannot cut the branch even if it prevents you from building an addition, putting in a pool or swing set for your kids, without first obtaining consent (e.g. paying off) your neighbor. If the the trunk of the tree encroaches on your property and destroys your fence, that tree, and that property it it expands now belongs jointly to your neighbor although you alone will be responsible for paying the property taxes and should the branch or tree fall and cause damage or injury, you will be jointly responsible for paying any damages.
So, if you don’t like your neighbor, just plant (preferably fast growing) trees along your fence line and you will soon have them at your mercy. This is all now perfectly legal, there is nothing anyone can do to stop you. Btw, if you are thinking of buying a house, this little fact is not mentioned in any of the so-called disclosure documents.