My home is on a small hill where the lots are set up like steps. My neighbor up the hill has a smaller and more slanted lot then most of the lots. They have build a 2-3 foot retention wall about 6 inches from my 6 foot privacy fence, then extended their patio with pavers to the wall. The result is their patio floor now starts 3 feet from the top of my fence. Whereas I couldn’t previously see them walk along the fence, I can now see them from their shoulders up.
I was recently in our hot tub, and a guest of theirs was watching us. Nice! I’m also concerned if the wall was built properly. The person building it accidentally cut the electric line. I don’t know if the drainage was done properly. We live in a hurricane prone state, so these are real concerns. Our county requires a permit if a retention wall is over 12 inches high. I didn’t see any paperwork posted as the wall was built, or see any permits issued on the county property assessors website. Additionally,our HOA doesn’t permit building anything that close to the fence. The project should have been applied for with the HOA.
I would feel bad turning them in to the HOA or county permitting office, but I feel this wall and patio extension have serious issues. WIBTA?
Don’t be
I mean, HOAs in general suck, but this is why you have HOAs (and zoning laws) — because people can’t figure out for themselves when they’re being an AH. And building a patio up against your wall in such a way that their guests can stare into your hot tub is an AH move.
It’s a shame the builder didn’t just put in retaining walls originally, and you could’ve avoided all this problem, and had retaining walls right at the property border.
INFO: Have you even talked to your neighbor about this?
They could lie and say yes?
NAH
Yet…
Is there any way to look into whether or not permits were pulled before going the route of notifying the authorities of various bullying types?
If you can determine, no permits were pulled for a fact – then yeah you should notify.
No matter who thinks that it’s an asshole move.
NAH currently. We don’t know what they did or didn’t do with permits or the HOA, we only know that you haven’t found record of it.
It’s ok to report it and get an assessment of whether everything is in order.
If they violated the HOA and built too close to the line, they should have to mitigate the issue as required.
If they built an unsafe structure, they should have to fix anything necessary to meet codes.
In the meantime, get a large umbrella.
I would definitely check if they got permits. Frequently cut and fill over a certain amount needs a permit for just your concerns as well as drainage issues. You really dont want to have to clean up their when their patio ends up in your yard after a intense rainstorm. If it was built right it wont be a big deal, maybe just a permit fee,
It’s infringing on your privacy and violating HOA rules. NAH, I would speak to the HOA and let them handle it.
Call the HOA office person and ask if permission was given for this project. If there is no office, write an email to the entire Board and ask , because the privacy you have enjoyed has been compromised. It wouldn’t be the first time an HOA made someone undo a project, so NTA on that .
NTA but forget the HOA. Go straight to whomever issues the permits in your county and start there.
This shouldn’t even be a question. I wouldn’t so much as report them to the HOA, but maybe first state of the HOA. I’m surprised this was permitted, considering the situation.
YWNBTA if you reported your suspicions to the HOA. Let them investigate. Your neighbor should have been more polite and added fencing on top of their retaining wall so they didn’t invade your privacy.
Are you concerned about the build quality or them being able to look over your fence? In either case they seem to have not put in the proper permit requests. I imagine that you could put in an anonymous call to the HOA and I’m sure someone from that office would be more than happy to “notice” the new construction.
NTA.