An Ugly Little Tree Dispute
If you install solar panels on your California property, and then sue your neighbor demanding their redwoods removed, you might win. Never mind that you may have come the nuisance, etc.--the trees gotta' go.
The irony of Solar Panel Guy asking Redwood Guy (both of whom probably voted for Nader in 2000) to cut down his trees is not lost on this blogger . . . nor is the (perhaps wacky) implication for a creative way around having to litigate certain types of land use debates.
Got a tree problem? Have you considered investing in a solar panel?
The irony of Solar Panel Guy asking Redwood Guy (both of whom probably voted for Nader in 2000) to cut down his trees is not lost on this blogger . . . nor is the (perhaps wacky) implication for a creative way around having to litigate certain types of land use debates.
Got a tree problem? Have you considered investing in a solar panel?
posted by Patrick Bageant at 1:12 PM
7 Comments:
At the point he installed his solar panels, there was no shadow caused by the trees. It's an issue of trimming the trees - not exactly a "coming to the nuisance"...
This is not a nuisance issue. It was a criminal prosecution actually, not a civil suit. And the law only applies to trees planted AFTER the solar panels are/were installed. Sounds to me the Redwood people are just jerks for planting trees in front of someone's solar panels. Plus they only drive a Prius and not an electronically plug-in car like the Solar Panel guy.
That's what I get for scan-post-'n-dash -- instant correction! And that's okay.
It does look like the trees were there before the solar panels were installed. If the statute requires people to trim their trees for solar panels, even when the solar panels are placed after the trees are established . . . well, that seems weird. How is a landowner to know whether and when his neighbors will go green? The person in the best position to avoid the conflict is the panel installer, not the tree owner.
Couldn't he have put them on a post? Or up in the tree?
This isn't a solar panel issue. What would you like? Would you like your neighbors being able to plant 50 foot tall trees right next to you, plunging you into shade? Although we all like trees, the fact is that you should be able to get sunlight on your property. The neighbors need either to plant short trees, keep the tall trees trimmed so that there is no shade, or purchase an easement from their neighbor. This isn't a solar panel issue; that's just incidental.
Well the solar panel issue isn't removed simply upon your ipse dixit. The statute in question is written specifically for property with solar panels.
But uh, I'll take your word for it.
Whoops, you're right Armen--I read way too hastily. I just assumed it was a common law issue.
Solar panel or no, I think that people shouldn't be able to beshadow your property with their trees. But, I guess we don't have rights to light and air in California.
Sorry for being off-topic, but does anyone know approximately how long the graduation ceremony lasts?
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