Latest news with #neighbordispute
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Couple finally win battle over neighbours' huge untrimmed hedge that left them suffering 'five years without sunshine'
A couple who have been embroiled in a long-running battle over a huge hedge overlooking their garden say they've suffered 'five years of misery and five years without sunshine' as a result. Keith Smith, 71, and his wife Julie, 68, told MailOnline that the matter has been a 'thorn in their side' that has taken a massive toll on their mental health. The couple have lived in their detached house, in the Prestonfield area of Edinburgh, for more than four decades. However, they say things changed after their neighbours moved in and planted cypress trees that grew several metres high. Mr Smith said the trees created a 'green wall' that went all the way along a fence dividing their gardens, preventing sunlight from getting into both the Smiths's garden and through the windows of their home - in what he brands a 'huge intrusion' and not suitable for adjoining gardens. This prompted an official row with the owners of the cypress trees, David Hunter and Niena Hunter Mistry, that has rumbled on for five years and seen the gardens inspected several times by various officials. Police have also attended over disputes between the neighbours. Edinburgh City Council initially knocked back the Smiths's bid to have the trees chopped down, but the couple later successfully appealed to the Scottish Government, which said the cypresses had to be cut down to 8.5 feet. The Hunters asked for one tree to be kept as it is, but that has also been ordered to be cut back to 8.5ft - and the Smiths say they are looking forward to this happening later this year. According to Edinburgh City Council's website, a hedge must be over 6.6ft from ground level before being considered a 'high hedge' potentially having a negative effect on people living nearby. Mr Smith, previously an employee of the local authority for 38 years, has now said that while the couple are hopeful the matter is dealt with, it has been 'a thorn in their side' and has caused them considerable stress and inconvenience, with many 'false dawns' along the way. In a document to the government, the couple previously said: 'The cost to the public purse must be considerable in terms of government, council and police resources. 'We, the Smiths, have suffered hugely financially, emotionally and physically by this process and sincerely hope, this will now lead to resolution.' The Hunters were unavailable for comment.
CBS News
18-07-2025
- CBS News
Dallas woman crushed police did not arrest neighbor allegedly urinating on shared porch
Barbara Chavez said her security footage of her next-door neighbor allegedly peeing on her porch was not enough for Dallas police to make a case. Dallas police confirmed there was no criminal offense. Barbara Chavez said she is considering moving from the Jubilee Park duplex she currently occupies. The mother of six adults and two grandchildren admits part of her past is living next door. "I was married to her nephew for 14 years, and then I divorced him," she said. CBS News Texas is not naming the woman or her boyfriend because neither faces criminal charges in this case. Chavez's former aunt, an adult, and others live next door. They share a porch. About two months ago, Chavez stated that the community space had been violated. She said it was clear as day on her security video. The man who lives next door goes out on the porch in the video, obtained by CBS News Texas, and is allegedly urinating. "I told his girlfriend that it's not appropriate," Chavez said. "I have a five-year-old granddaughter in my house. And what if she was to look outside?" On the morning of July 15, Chavez said that it had happened again. She called the Dallas Police Department. According to the video, the officer arrived after 9 a.m. He warned the man on the video. "I've seen the footage of you continuously peeing here on the porch," the officer said. "Because y'all do share this balcony." In the video, the man agrees with the officer about the shared space. "If you could try to take it inside," the officer said. Following his July 15 conversation with the man, the officer rang the doorbell for Chavez to come out on the porch. He told her the case was not a criminal one because Chavez had not walked outside where the man was allegedly urinating, nor had a child seen the person exposing himself. She would eventually go back inside her home. "But I thought the video would be good enough, but I guess it wasn't," Chavez said. Before the officer left, he informed her that the video was in black and white, which made it difficult to discern details such as the color of the man's pants and shirt, despite her assertion that it was him in the video. Thursday afternoon, the Dallas police confirmed that no criminal offense had occurred. CBS News Texas attempted to speak with the man and Chavez's former aunt to gain an understanding of the porch incidents. A man inside the residence said neither was at home. Chavez said the floor plan for each one of their residences includes one bathroom.
CBS News
21-05-2025
- CBS News
Lawsuit at center of St. Louis Park basketball hoop dispute dismissed
Why a Minnesota family is being sued over their driveway basketball hoop Why a Minnesota family is being sued over their driveway basketball hoop Why a Minnesota family is being sued over their driveway basketball hoop A Hennepin County judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit about a neighbor dispute over a basketball hoop in a family's driveway. Judge Lois Conroy dismissed the case on Tuesday, though her reasoning for dismissing the case has not been published. The Moeding family had lived in their St. Louis Park home for 11 years. "New neighbors moved in about a year ago and they asked us to move our basketball hoop," Lilly Moeding told WCCO last month. The family realized it was 6 inches too close to the property line and relocated it, but say it wasn't enough for their next door neighbors. "It's immediately in front of my door. I cannot walk out of my door. I park outside my door, and I'm face to face with them, and balls are flying directly at me," said their next-door neighbor at a city council meeting in November. A lawsuit was filed against the Moedings and the City of St. Louis Park in February, with the neighbors saying the hoop should be considered a "sport court" within city code. Another action was filed in late April requesting the family not to use the hoop until the matter was resolved in court. "I feel like I'm walking on eggshells on my own property," Moeding told WCCO. Lawyers representing the neighbors wrote in an injunction filed last week, that they've experienced "extreme harassment," including death threats since the Moedings first went to the media.
