Advice on difficult neighbor/tree limbs Q

[Felicia Hamilton]

The city has mandated that all homes be on city sewer, I have an investment property (SFH) that I'm attempting to transfer to city sewer... however, the plumber will have to be on my neighbors' yard by less than 2 feet. My neighbors, a retired elderly couple, are adamant that they NOT be on their property. This is not a manicured lawn, it's on the very edge of her land (not even close to their house). Any disturbance would be rectified. If they weren't home, they could have done the work and they wouldn't have known any better. If we weren't in a state where the likelihood of them having a firearm weren't so high... I would say screw them, and do the work, fix the yard while they scream and holler... but that's not the case. I could cut down a tree to give the plumbers more access and not be on their yard. This will increase my cost about 2k. I'm fine to do it, just to get this city mandated project done... but I'm irked. We've had a VERY FRIENDLY relationship in the past, so I'm really confused by the whole thing. I've even offered to pay them JUST TO HAVE ACCESS TO THE 24 INCHES!

My question - if I cut down the tree and branches/leaves fall on their property... do I have to remove the tree debris, or anything else that may fall on their land?  

[Account Closed]

Tough one. For starters it's your neighbor and you want to maintain good relations. On the other hand it's a rental and you don't have to see them everyday - lol. Certainly option #1 is always preferred if possible.

Most parcels of land at the street are actually owned by the city, even though the adjacent property owner (you) is responsible for the upkeep. A good example of that would be an area that might contain a sidewalk. You may be able to very easily see if this is the case using an online GIS mapping system that nearly all states and cities use today. It will allow you to view all sorts of property information, usually lot lines. You will be able to determine very quickly how much of the street and sidewalk you own vs how much the city owns - you might be surprised how much of "your" property is not actually yours!

What I'm getting at here is if these 24 inches in contention is actually city property, your neighbor does not have rights to force you off of it, especially during an instance when it's the city requiring the connection for all residents. And further to that point, there may already be rules and laws in place that govern the project that pertain to your issue - I promise you are not the only person to have this issue. So, call the city and see what they say about it.

Finally you want to get all this done as politely as possible of course, I know you do, and those southern charm skills will come in handy to make it happen!!! 

Good luck!