Elon Musk Is Stirring Tensions in His Tony Texas Suburb

Yahoo

20-05-2025

Photo:Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest man, never obtained permission to erect the 16.5-foot black chain-link fence and weathered-metal gate now surrounding his $6 million property in the city of West Lake Hills, Texas. But the structures have been there since 2022, after the tech titan moved the Tesla headquarters from California to Texas the year prior—and neighbors aren't happy about it. Musk may be close with President Trump and wield a huge amount of clout in Washington at the moment, but come June 11 the electric car company's largest shareholder (or a representative on his behalf) will have to face his local Texas city council in order to keep his fences and request a couple of other special permissions, while they're at it.
As per the city's local NBC news outlet, Musk's neighbors are incensed over the billionaire's disregard for their local regulations. Not only are residents disturbed by the fence and gate, which are reportedly direct violations of their six-foot maximum height rule, but neighbors have complained about a barrage of traffic reportedly coming in and out of the SpaceX owner's nearly 7,000-square-foot house as being unprecedented and disruptive.
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'No permit was obtained prior to installation,' according to a Musk representative who went before the city's Zoning and Planning Commission in order to obtain retroactive variances. 'This was an oversight by the property manager at the time.'
Both commissioners and neighbors shut down Musk's request at that meeting.
'Granting these variances would do nothing but facilitate their bad behavior on our quiet, little cul-de-sac,' said Paul Hemmer, a neighbor who seems to be one of the more vociferous voices in the ongoing battle. According to The New York Times, Hemmer's gripe with the 'special government employee' extends to Musk's security, who has now filed complaints against him, telling local police that he had been caught standing naked in the street. (Hemmer denied the allegation, insisting he was on his property wearing black underwear.) The West Lake Hills resident calls out the staff's three chaotic shift changes during the day, with fleets of Teslas 'coming and going.' NYT reported that Hemmer's testimony included the story of a driver shouting, late at night, that he was looking for a party at 'E's house.'
As told by council members at their weekly public hearing on May 14, homeowners of West Lake Hills are only granted variances to their property when faced with hardships that are not self-created or driven by personal needs. Usually, these hardships are due to topographical issues that prevent homeowners from enjoying their property, like with the couple who were granted permission to remove an elm tree from their lot, which was impeding the construction of their home. Commissioners have made recommendations to the city council that all of Musk's variances be denied due to a 'lack of appropriate hardships.'
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Judging by the ire of council members, who take issue with residents building first and seeking permission later, it's hard to say whether Musk's wish list (including permission for street parking and an exception to his fence and gate, which are 10.5 feet over the maximum allowance) will be fulfilled.
'I can't believe how often we have people come in after the fact they've already constructed it,' a council member responded as they deliberated a situation with another resident at the May 14 meeting. 'They've got some idea that they're permitted, and we're just stuck with a mess…. I'm tired of contractors and consultants giving us a bag of goods we're running around trying to figure out how to fix—we can't all the time. It's very frustrating. We've got a certain amount of our builders and contractors and consultants around and they need to be held responsible for every violation.'
The discussion on the variance request submitted on Musk's behalf will pick back up June 11.
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
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