Would you tell someone this tree is OK to leave ??

[ddhlakebound]

I guess I may as well be getting ready to go to court

Over a tree that is not on your land, and is not going to fall on your land? Don't you think that if you were observing this from an unrelated perspective that you would see yourself as a nosy busy body?

Sure, he's foolish to leave it there, but that's not your business.

If you truly are concerned of damage to your property, and this isn't some petty retaliatory attempt, then in the interest of good economics......

It would probably be cheaper for you to have the tree felled than to say hello to your lawyer. Or you could just start a feud. Feuds are always fun.

 

[Grouchy old man]

We measured, and it did not appear to be within range of any nearby structure if by some chance it were to fall.
After consulting with our inspector, we both agreed that forcing the homeowner to spend hundreds of dollars to remove the tree would be unreasonable. The homeowner informed us that a county employee who had come to work on the ditch came to a similar conclusion.
I don’t think it is necessary to force one of our residents to incur such a large cost to remove a tree that, in my opinion, does not pose a significant hazard to the surrounding property.

I really don't know what you don't understand. Apparently the property owner is unwilling or unable to spend the money to have the tree removed and because it presents no danger to anything nearby they aren't going to force him to. I also think that your far fetched theory of it falling in his electrical service, pulling the pole over and in turn pulling the service off your house is grasping at straws to justify your butting in to his business. If the tree were close to your property and posing a danger to your house I might side with you but then again I think the inspectors would also.

Since this is clearly your neighbors business you need to mind yours. Any attorney given the facts will give you that answer also.

 

[TreePointer]

Toro420, did you contact the local/regional power company? I'm not sure about SC, but our power co. will trim and even remove trees that threaten or potentially threaten their lines. I've always had good results from contacting the power co. (or cable TV co.) to remove these threats.

 

[lone wolf]

OP just do this send a certified letter to all party's involved warning them that they must remedy an unsafe situation because of the power line issue. If the tree falls and breaks the power line take them all to court and say they refused to remedy a knowingly dangerous situation that you made them aware off!


DYOD this is not legal advice just an opinion of mine call a lawyer.

 

[toro420]

Toro420, did you contact the local/regional power company? I'm not sure about SC, but our power co. will trim and even remove trees that threaten or potentially threaten their lines. I've always had good results from contacting the power co. (or cable TV co.) to remove these threats.

Thanks for the constuctive suggestion. Yes I have with limited results. On the diagram there is a location of a 75' pine tree.. that tree died in the summer of 2007.
The power company said it was too far from the main line and on his property - they would not do anything
I did catch someone walking the lines and pointed out the root damage on the down hill side of yet another tree that is not show, that also had a south pulling lean directly at the main pole and transformer. This tree was taken down - at no cost to the owner My argument was that since it had dropped a couple of large branches already and hurricane winds go counter clockwise this tree was a problem.. besides if it does take out the pole you will have to get in there to replace it from the owner's property, uphill in the mud... I would not allow them to use my access in that case..

A few weeks later it was dropped and the branches chipped.. the trunk was left in rounds sized for a fire place.. The wood at the base of the oak is most of that firewood..I do not think any has been used since it was split several years ago.. makes for a great rattlesnake hangout

In this case I believe it would be a waste of time... but on a positive note - there are two other trees at the end of street that are dead or compromised that are in the ROW and/or Stormwater easement.. Just the thought of trying to get anything done there gives me a headache.

 

[toro420]

Over a tree that is not on your land, and is not going to fall on your land? Don't you think that if you were observing this from an unrelated perspective that you would see yourself as a nosy busy body?

Sure, he's foolish to leave it there, but that's not your business.

If you truly are concerned of damage to your property, and this isn't some petty retaliatory attempt, then in the interest of good economics......

It would probably be cheaper for you to have the tree felled than to say hello to your lawyer. Or you could just start a feud. Feuds are always fun.

I believe I started this thread to get expert advice on trees and the hazards they pose.. I can get all the negative busy body comments on another forum from people who know NOTHING about trees.. So far I have not been able to type fast enough to give you all the details since the house was built..
I wonder if the parents of the kids that were playing around the open excavation for the foundation for this house in 2007 that was 5 feet deep and they were jumping over it Two of the boys could pretty much make it - the third was to small and decided not to try If he had and landed in the water , he would have been a statistic.. No way anyone could have gotten there in time.. I drove around and they tried to hide... I laughed at them and told them I had a web cam watching and not to come back... None of my business... SO SORRY I will not stand by and let something like that happen.

retaliatory attempt ?? I have no idea what I have said that would make for that comment

If he had taken the few minutes to talk to me, give me his phone number I could have had this oak and the 75 foot pine tree cut, and removed for about $500 maybe less.. The pine cost him about $1000 and a sloppy job to boot..

 

[toro420]

OP just do this send a certified letter to all party's involved warning them that they must remedy an unsafe situation because of the power line issue. If the tree falls and breaks the power line take them all to court and say they refused to remedy a knowingly dangerous situation that you made them aware off!


DYOD this is not legal advice just an opinion of mine call a lawyer.

Thanks - I have always planned on changing my outside panel It was done about 20 years ago ?? The previous owner was elderly and no records exist of when things were done..I knew all this going in. I would avoid having to go to court at all costs.. anything that goes to court just eats up time. I have explained my concern to the city and just got the FINAL word last week .. I have to try to mitigate my damages and may have my service altered to a more resistant setup..

 

[Jed1124]

That tree looks like hell. If your neighbor is too stupid to take it down it is his problem and not yours. The towns people don't think it will hit anything. Local tree wardens around here go through a 9 week course and are certified. That's not to say they are always right but they have some concept about what they are talking about. Are you really going to hire a lawyer about the concern of a downed power line? Keep your nose on your side of the fence and stop worrying about your neighbors business.

 

[ddhlakebound]

but on THIS tree I did not even try to speak to him..that did no good before. The back story is pretty long and I will try to spell it out a little later..

This might be what makes me think you're behaving in a retaliatory attempt.

And you haven't even spoken to him about this tree, but you're preparing for court? Heck of a stand up guy, you are.....

Do you want to play the Hatfields, or the McCoy's?

 

[toro420]

That tree looks like hell. If your neighbor is too stupid to take it down it is his problem and not yours. The towns people don't think it will hit anything. Local tree wardens around here go through a 9 week course and are certified. That's not to say they are always right but they have some concept about what they are talking about. Are you really going to hire a lawyer about the concern of a downed power line? Keep your nose on your side of the fence and stop worrying about your neighbors business.

Anybody with an ex wife and small kid - joint custody... would you want your son playing on that swing set under that tree.? She must know less about trees than the owner..

The city people do not think the tree is going to fall - EVER ?? It will fall and if you do not believe that ?? So what could make me think that they can measure where the tree will fall.. Did they conclude that the top branches will drop first and later the remainder. Come on guys if I wanted to listen to a bunch of whinners that only have half the story I could be doing lots of other things...

 

[toro420]

This might be what makes me think you're behaving in a retaliatory attempt.

And you haven't even spoken to him about this tree, but you're preparing for court? Heck of a stand up guy, you are.....

Do you want to play the Hatfields, or the McCoy's?

Lets see, he cant find time to talk about the 75 foot pine that was close enough to my trees to domino them into my house but now I should waste more time trying to get him to do something that he must not think is a problem. Glad you have time for that...

The prep for court would be to get back my damages if the power line did damage my service panel

 

[Jed1124]

Anybody with an ex wife and small kid - joint custody... would you want your son playing on that swing set under that tree.? She must know less about trees than the owner..

The city people do not think the tree is going to fall - EVER ?? It will fall and if you do not believe that ?? So what could make me think that they can measure where the tree will fall.. Did they conclude that the top branches will drop first and later the remainder. Come on guys if I wanted to listen to a bunch of whinners that only have half the story I could be doing lots of other things...

IT'S NOT YOUR PROPERTY. IT'S NOT YOUR HOUSE. THEY ARE NOT YOUR CHILDREN. MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS!

 

[arathol]

Anybody with an ex wife and small kid - joint custody... would you want your son playing on that swing set under that tree.? She must know less about trees than the owner..

The city people do not think the tree is going to fall - EVER ?? It will fall and if you do not believe that ?? So what could make me think that they can measure where the tree will fall.. Did they conclude that the top branches will drop first and later the remainder. Come on guys if I wanted to listen to a bunch of whinners that only have half the story I could be doing lots of other things...

Half the story huh? You have gotten the best answers possible to the question you asked. You have apparently only given selective bits of the big picture, thus making things a bit hard to figure out as to what the problem really is. With only half a question expect half an answer.

If your intent is a fishing expedition to get the answer you want by only revealing the right details needed to get it, you are going to need a bigger boat. Some folks just don't like being played.

 

[toro420]

Okay,this is just my opinion.This sounds like it is no where near any structures on your property.Your only concern is that a whipping action MAY cause your power line to come away from your house.That may happen that may not,I believe that is your opinion not an expert's.I would just let him and the city handle it and butt out.If in the future it does come down along with the power line,it would be a pretty simple matter of getting the power line back up.I would keep the E-mails about your concern.There is to much not known here,are you concerned that the city will charge you to put the power lines back up?The E-mail may or may not help you keep from paying if that is the case.

I also believe in private rights.It really bugs me when I hear about all of these local laws that dictate what you can and can not do on your own property.This guy should not need a law telling him what to do,his common sense should come into play.Once again it sounds like the city was called and their expert is telling the home owner that the tree is not a danger and he does not have to remove it.I only said expert,because any city requiring permission to remove trees should have an expert to keep their butts out of trouble. Having said all of that,I think the guy is nuts(if the pictures show the true story)not to remove the tree for his and his family's own safety

Sorry man.. I got side tracked by some of the other posts and missed yours.. The problem with my electrical set up is that the weather head is below the roof line and the neutral holds all the wires via an insulator bolted to the soffit framing..then the meter socket and below that is my 200 amp panel This house was built in 1960 and the outside panel was an upgrade. I am going to replace that panel but to go service underground is too much $$ When the small pine branch did so much damage - I tried to find it and there was nothing longer than 4 feet and 2.5 inches dia.. My concern is that the tip of this oak with the momentum of a fall by the time it hits the wire will easily do more damage...before my soffit was partially removed and now the finished facia and soffit could also be damaged.. You probably know how hard it is to get small jobs done.. The wire going back up is no cost, but before they will do it, everything else has to be fixed.. So if we wait till the tree falls in an ice storm and there is damage everywhere - the chances of getting work done goes down.

 

[Gologit]

Come on guys if I wanted to listen to a bunch of whinners that only have half the story I could be doing lots of other things...

And, with that statement, you just shot yourself right in the foot.

You've been given some excellent advice by some very professional and knowledgeable people but you'd rather argue and complain than to see the situation for what it is.

I don't think that we can help someone who doesn't take our advice seriously.

This thread is closed.