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Seeds from my neighbors tree are making making my pool and deck unusable. My pool was there long before their tree was planted.
Anonymous7 views3 answers
It is an ash tree that now produces tens of thousands of seeds annually which blanket my pool, clog the filter, and requires me to spend a couple of hours clean up time before I can now use my pool. This starts in June and continually gets worse until fall when the fall leaves are also added to the debris, which all blows my way, by the way. I tried to help pay for removal and replacement with something more tame. No luck there. Would a private nuisance lawsuit have any merit or is there another solution?
I'm not sure if a niusance cause of action can be maintained because falling seeds and leaves occur naturally are probaly do not result from your neighbors negligence. You do have a right to trim the overhanging branches, but the law also imposes on you a duty to act reasonably in that regard in terms of considering the health of the tree and the damage your pruning might case. Your neighbor would have, at a minimum, an obligation to clean up the mess from his tree.
As a practical matter, being at odds with you neighbor is an unpleasant way to live if it can be avoided. I suggest that you speak with your neighbot about the issue, point out the rules of law as you understand them to be, and reach a fair resolution. I had this exact problem with my neighbor a few year ago. He agreed to trim his tree branches substnatially, but not all the way back to the property line. Even though I probably could have forced him to do this or done it myself, that degree of trimming would have made to tree look extremely lobsided. I still got a few seeds and leave on my property, but it wasn't a big deal to clean these up along with doing the regular yardwork.
The previous attorney's response is very credible and gives you a good underlining and understanding of the foundations of the law. By and large, you are legally correct in that your neighbor is responsible for negative impacts of his property affecting your property. Your situation is a little unusual which I have not quite dealt with in the past, but I have dealt with neighbor disputes for over 30 years. Years ago when I was a Pro-tem Judge, there was a neighbor case where there were bamboo roots actually traveling so far in the neighbor's property that they were uplifting the foundation. In normal cases, someone changes the elevation of the property, and it modifies the normal course of water drainage. Your tree situation is a little unusual, and it normally comes into play with obstruction of view issues. Although, it sounds like your neighbor has created a real nuisance, and it should be actionable. Hopefully, you don't have to go to court to resolve the same.
As the other attorneys stated, reasonableness will be the key to a peaceful co-existence. Try to work with your neighbor, otherwise you may end up in a hostile situation with someone that you see on a regular basis.
If your neighbor does not want to cooperate, maybe you can put up a screen to help catch some of the leaves and seeds, or a pool cover, or hire a pool cleaning service to come once a week. You can ask your neighbor to pay or contribute, but legally there is probably not much you can do.
