Residential Bylaw Issue (Vehicles/Parking)

[Shazam]

You don't have to pay for half the fence, and I completely understand your POV, but in the long run it's much better to pay some token amount ($250-500), assuming it's a good fence

God this.

My pedo-porn-loving cop former neighbour wouldn't even do that. And now he's in jail. Is that what you want?

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

This thread is full of awesome.

Mostly because the neighbour isn't doing anything wrong (parking dead car on driveway and ugly working car on street, put up fence) and yet the poster is outraged.

If I were your neighbour I'd start doing things to purposefully piss you off just for the reaction.

Parking a broken down piece of crap on your own driveway to piss off a neighbour you don't like is akin to getting a tattoo on your face that says "my ex-wife is a bitch".

Sure, it might annoy her a bit, but it really just makes you look like a fool.

I guess it's possible he's crazy enough to ruin his own yard just to spite his neighbour, but I find that hard to believe.

I say good on the OP for not paying for the fence.

[algernon]

Good fences make good neighbours.

I'd put up a very elaborate fence in the front yard to shield your view of his jalopy, then ask him to pay his share. Maybe one of those nice Italian Brick & Gargoyle jobs, to balance with the cost of the longer back fence?

[GGG]

On the fence issue you should let go of principle. Obviously you don't have to do anything. And obviously he should have talked to you first. But.... and this is a big but he added value to your property therefore you had a net gain from his action despite the process he went about it. Since you gained both in terms of asset value and functionality you should probably pay something for that benefit.

In determining how much you should pay for the fence i would ask yourself the following questions

1) Did you want a fence to be built in the next 5 years. If yes you need to pay something for the fence

2) Did he build the fence himself or have a contractor do it. If a contractor did it and you would have built a fence then i think you would only owe for materials.

3) Price out the fence you would have built.

Now take 40% of that price and you have what you owe him. You only pay 40% because the guy was a jerk about it but you still pay something. That way it gets rid of the $5000 fence argument

[4X4]

I dunno. I'm certainly not the type of person that would stiff someone when there's mutual benefit, but if my neighbour went ahead and got the materials, hired the contractor, and then *expected* me to pay my share, it would probably result in a conflict.

Sorry, but you don't go around spending my money without consulting me first. That's like going to a persons house and they order a pizza and want you to pay half when the thing arrives. What if you're not hungry? What if you don't like what was ordered? Why the heck weren't you even asked whether you were in, before it was ordered?

If you're going to go spend a couple grand on something that is good for both of us, great. If you want me to go half on it, please take the 10 minutes and knock on my door and tell me that you'd like to do it and this is how much it'll cost. If you don't, I'll probably not pay, just because you're an idiot. How do you know that I'm even in a position to shell out right now? Maybe there are more important things in my life right now than a fence. Seriously, don't spend my money for me. I do a pretty good job of that myself, TYVM.

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by aaronck

It's no fun having crummy neighbors. I have some that run a Tree maintenance business from their house-which causes additional traffic, parking of 1 and 5 ton vehicles plus trailers (causing damage to my vehicle, although I didn't see it happen, and they denied it) as well as employee vehicles in the front and back of the house, they do all the maintenance and cleaning there, as well as sometimes shred there as well.

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

^^^^^

I would assume it's against the law to run a business out of a private residence without a business license? Not sure though, but if they don't have a proper license and they're running/storing heavy equipment I'd think you would be able to do something about it.

There are two types of home business licenses from what I understand. The most common one says you cant park large trucks (5 tons) at the house as well as a bunch of other stipulations about the amount of traffic going through etc... the other class of business license would allow all of that stuff but if I remember correctly is very pricey and harder to get. I'd check into it.

[GrrlGoalie33]

To all those saying he should pony up for his "half" of the fence: there is nothing that says once he pays any money for the fence (regardless of what the sum is) that this neighbor will change his attitude at all. At that point, our OP is just out the money.

I'm not sure my attitude would change at all if I were the neighbor.

[ken0042]

^^ I agree- that ship sailed long ago. Paying the portion now unless it was the full 50% plus some sort of interest would be like trying to tell your wife you were only joking when you said she was getting fat.

As one of the original people who brought up the fence issue- my point was that by not being the "bigger man" in that situation he ensured the relationship with said neighbour would get worse. And now in his mind it's a lot worse.

[bossy22]

I'd go over with a case of beer, pay half of the materials, call a truce and make myself look like a good guy, and then I'd hide the duke in the broken down truck.

[aaronck]

Originally Posted by Swarly

There are two types of home business licenses from what I understand. The most common one says you cant park large trucks (5 tons) at the house as well as a bunch of other stipulations about the amount of traffic going through etc... the other class of business license would allow all of that stuff but if I remember correctly is very pricey and harder to get. I'd check into it.

Funny enough, I called, and you are allowed to register a business to the house-but not run a bunch of trucks out of there, no matter what the license, as it is a residential area. I think you can have a vehicle or small equipment, but it has to fit in your garage along with your regular vehicle or something like that-

[Tron_fdc]

Everyone here is missing the obvious.

If you don't like the look of his truck, build your own fence to block the view. May I suggest one of these

www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2007/11/images/skiway2.jpg

Multi-purpose too! Placed in the right spot, you'll never have to shovel your driveway again!

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Frankster

To all those saying he should pony up for his "half" of the fence: there is nothing that says once he pays any money for the fence (regardless of what the sum is) that this neighbor will change his attitude at all. At that point, our OP is just out the money.

I'm not sure my attitude would change at all if I were the neighbor.

It's not too late to do the right thing. Here are my thoughts on fences:

• They are mandatory. If you are moving into a house that has no fence or a house where the fence needs replacing, you need to factor in the price of the fence into your budget before purchasing the house.
• If one neighbour wants a fence and the other doesn't, you default to the neighbour that wants the fence.
• If you can't afford the fence, but your neighbour is adament that the fence needs to be replaced, work out a payment plan in writing or agree upon a reasonable future date that you will replace the fence (I think within 12 months is reasonable).
• While legally you can say you're "not interested" in building a fence, it does make you an A-1 a-h0le to play that card.

With the OP's specific situation, let's assume he's telling the truth that the neighbour never approached him about the fence before he started. Nobody is going to argue that the neighbour was right to just start the fence without consulting the OP...that would be stupid. That said, you don't get out of paying your fair share on a technicality. If the fence is built fine, is located properly, etc. you owe him some money and he has every right to treat you like a bum until you man up and pay him your debt.

Not knowing what the fence costs is also not an excuse to pay him. I think contractors charge ~$25/linear foot for a standard new fence with pressure treated wood. You could use that to estimate it, or if you want to be "that guy" you could just pay him for materials. It would take about 20 minutes of your time to stop in at Home Depot and get a price from them for the wood to make your fence. Divide that by two and it will tell you what your neighbour is out of pocket (not including his time that you are valuing at $0) and what you owe him.

I think the parking issue is secondary to the fence thing. Without this resolved, you are the problem neighbour, not him.

[JustAnotherGuy]

The way I see it is. I wouldn't want either one of the two people as a neighbor. One guy can only communicate by being a jerk and the other guy is a tight ass don't touch my stuff hall monitor type.

[kermitology]

I don't live in a house anymore, but when I did the only fence we had was one with the neighbour who was a total bag. The other neighbours were great and half of that was because we didn't have a fence.

Fences are mandatory.. that's ridiculous.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by kermitology

I don't live in a house anymore, but when I did the only fence we had was one with the neighbour who was a total bag. The other neighbours were great and half of that was because we didn't have a fence.

Fences are mandatory.. that's ridiculous.

If one person wants a fence and one person does not, do you think it should default either way? In your specific case, if your neighbour decided he wanted a fence, what do you think the right thing to do would be given you were happier without the fence?

[FurnaceFace]

I want some of you as neighbours. I could get a fence built and have you pay for 50% of it without even asking. That's awesome. I'll be going for the best, highest quality I can since I'd only have to pay for half of it. I need a retaining wall replaced too which I'm sure you'd pay for half of also.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

I want some of you as neighbours. I could get a fence built and have you pay for 50% of it without even asking. That's awesome. I'll be going for the best, highest quality I can since I'd only have to pay for half of it. I need a retaining wall replaced too which I'm sure you'd pay for half of also.

JFC

Show me one post where somebody thought it was reasonable to build a fence without asking your neighbour first. I'm pretty sure it goes without saying you should discuss it first.

[Grunt]

Originally Posted by Sliver

JFC

Show me one post where somebody thought it was reasonable to build a fence without asking your neighbour first. I'm pretty sure it goes without saying you should discuss it first.

While that does go without saying, a quick perusal of this thread shows that a large number of the responders would pay despite that. I think JFC's point stands.

[algernon]

Originally Posted by algernon

Good fences make good neighbours.

I'd put up a very elaborate fence in the front yard to shield your view of his jalopy, then ask him to pay his share. Maybe one of those nice Italian Brick & Gargoyle jobs, to balance with the cost of the longer back fence?

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

Everyone here is missing the obvious.

If you don't like the look of his truck, build your own fence to block the view.
Multi-purpose too! Placed in the right spot, you'll never have to shovel your driveway again!

Ahem.

If you don't want to go to the trouble of putting in a nice brick fence, why not buy some panels from the big box and dig in some posts yourself? You could do it in a weekend, and never have to look at his trash again.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Grunt

While that does go without saying, a quick perusal of this thread shows that a large number of the responders would pay despite that. I think JFC's point stands.

JFC = Jesus Effing Christ

I think the fact that he didn't ask doesn't mean the OP doesn't have to pay. If the fence is a reasonable fence (e.g. like others in the neigbourhood), was installed properly and in the correct location, the OP owes the neigbour some money.

The neigbour still should have discussed it first (again, assuming he didn't), but that doesn't = free fence IMO.