There is a guy in miami that has buildings all around his property. He would not move. The city harrasses the hell out of him for every little thing they can so he moves.he is holding out on them.
> For months, he's been negotiating with the city over a series of code violations, involving everything from overgrown grass to feral cats. At one point, he says, the fines totaled nearly $30,000.
Wnich is just mafiosi style extortion from city and 'connected' owners of surrounding plots.
that 30k thing was his carport (Orlando Capote). it predates the house and it turns out the fines and infractions were a clerical error. the city resolved that and he upgraded that carport with a new cloth top. but yeah his home is completely surrounded.
check out the image at the top of this article
[https://wsvn.com/news/investigations/coral-gables-resident-still-refuses-to-sell-decades-old-home-surrounded-by-massive-development/](https://wsvn.com/news/investigations/coral-gables-resident-still-refuses-to-sell-decades-old-home-surrounded-by-massive-development/)
The article is so sad. He's basically the guy from Up. Those high rise developments have ruined all of his hobbies, and he doesn't even get much sun on his property.
[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hero+of+Coral+Gables/@25.7450836,-80.2596859,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x88d9b70075114a03:0x50a2eed2fe3034de!8m2!3d25.7450836!4d-80.257111!16s%2Fg%2F11vz2pj2bj?entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hero+of+Coral+Gables/@25.7450836,-80.2596859,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x88d9b70075114a03:0x50a2eed2fe3034de!8m2!3d25.7450836!4d-80.257111!16s%2Fg%2F11vz2pj2bj?entry=ttu)
You can actually see how it used to look before the high rises were built.
From the article, it sounds like they changed the zoning from residential to something else like "light commercial" or "mixed residential" which would allow for things like this. The poor guy probably didn't even know his zone was changing, much less what it would do to his property or how to fight it. All perfectly legal, but they knew what they were doing; developers like this know how to use local ordinances to get what they want. They probably just didn't expect him to be this stubborn about it.
Not sure how it's in US, but generally there are urbanistic plans than determine what can be built in certain areas.
If city determined that an area can have buildings of certain height, floor count and area, it's legal.
Those plans are made with the goal of shaping neighborhoods in certain ways, usual city planning stuff.
He's explaining both zoning and land use regulations, which are technically different. Houston has no zoning but a fuck ton of land use regulations. What type of development can be built in a certain area of a city is zoning, other things like building height, floor count, etc. are land use regulations. I don't know Houston at all, but the lack of zoning means you can put an auto body shop in the middle of a residential neighborhood, but that auto body shop needs to follow what an auto body shop looks like based on what the city law says an auto body shop needs to look like. This can, in turn, act like de facto zoning in a lot of instances, but it's technically not.
Heres a good resource for that:
https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/DevelopRegs/
The idea is that you can open and do business pretty much wherever you own land, but you can't create a nuisance. For instance, I can open an auto repair shop out of my garage. But if I create traffic problems by parking cars along the street, create noise problems by using loud tools at odd times, or create environmental problems due to a lack of proper equipment, I can be heavily fined or even shut down.
There are several businesses like this in Houston. Some home businesses in residential areas I've seen just driving around: Several auto repair or tire shops, A/C repair, dog sitting/training/grooming, dog breeding, psychic, locksmith, tax help, and small engine repair. These are all basically run out of houses or garages in the middle of neighborhoods.
Hey, anthony, you are a great guy and you have a pretty nice house. It would be sad, very sad, to get a clerical error that costs you that nice house. I'm just saying that it is a nice house and clerical errors happen.
We had a similar thing with an old house and the hospital. [They built the hospital alllll around the house](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/aug/15/more-parking-may-replace-marys-place-the-historic-/). The city kept cranking up the value until the family could no longer afford the taxes. It just got bulldozed for a parking lot.
I didn’t read your username but as as soon as I read your comment I knew you were talking about Mary’s house in Spokane.
I visited the area several months ago and saw the house from the hospital’s upper floors. It was a beautiful patch of history, so sad to hear it’s been torn down to make more parking.
I’d like to think that too. I think she could have managed her estate in such a way as to prevent the future sale of that property by her inheritors, but I’m not an expert at all. It is so lovely to talk to someone from Spokane, by the way :) I grew up there, my parents still live up by Mead High School
That is because most U.S. cities are in housing crunch and zoning limits in suburbs mean that developable land is at an insane premium. This lot for example is likely worth $8-$12 million.
>It's still sad driving by that old plot of land and seeing it completely turned into condos though. The address I grew up at literally doesn't even exist anymore.
My childhood home was torn down for a baseball field. Pretty sure it was somewhere around first base.
Guy in Rennes, France has done the same. Right in the middle of the business park, surrounded by concrete/glass office buildings, you have this beautiful old Breton stone longiere (the traditional farmhouse in the region).
The guy is a well known gardner and has published several books (we have his book on compost and mulch).
My hometown university had an old man who wouldnt sell either. The University harassed him, and built dorms and buildings around his little house and yard. His home stuck out like a sore thumb. The old man held out until he finally died (I think from the stress) and his family finally sold the home to the University.
I recently saw a video about a man in Florida who is living in a similar situation, except the city (Coral Gables, I think?) is doing all this shady shit to try to get him out. I hope he never leaves and I hope he’s put the house in a trust or something if he doesn’t have any descendants to leave it to.
Alright, folks, buckle up because this is one wild ride! We've got a jaw-dropping twist coming your way, but hold onto your seats because you're not going to believe what's about to unfold. Picture this: a series of events so utterly unbelievable, you'll be scratching your head in disbelief. But before we dive into the latest bombshell, let's take a step back and revisit the rollercoaster of events that have led us to this moment.
If I owned one of those townhouses I wouldn't want your mother to move either, those are beautiful trees and much better to look at out the window than my neighbors roof.
Townhouses and apartments are the best way to provide people houses and have the extra space for wildlife. It takes up less land per family. The difference is what the developers and/or city planners do with the saved land.
My mum went to visit my brother recently. He's in a soulless new build estate and it was really eerie but she couldn't put her finger on it. It's only when she got back she realised there were no trees anywhere. No hedges, no plants, no foliage whatsoever. Just bright green turf.
You really notice it in the summer when it’s hot and there is no shade Anywhere. It’s pretty terrible. I live in an old neighborhood but the same happens here as the trees get older or damaged by storms or diseases. If they aren’t replaced afterwards, it doesn’t feel nearly as nice and I tend to avoid walking on streets that don’t have them when it’s hot.
Streets lined with nice big trees have a wonderful feel to them and I frequently see this as a selling point on real estate listings too ‘3 bed colonial on beautiful tree-lined street.” I don’t understand why so many new tracts are not planting them.
All my friends who have HOAs are not allowed to plant anything besides grass. No vegetables, no flowers, and absolutely NO trees. They'll get fined if a dandelion pops up.
What the heck. What is the purpose of that?? Landscaping can make a shitty place look amazing and an already nice place look outstanding. I don’t understand this type of ruling at all.
This. House with area surounding it play a huge factor in biodiversity (not hige pstches of empty english grass mind you).
So, your mother keeping it, is doing nature a favorite.
Hopefully you will keep it eventually OP
This! Imagine the sad of all those big developers if OP’s mom put her property into a land trust and no one was ever allowed to build on it…and the joy of all the little birdies and bugs.
I have an old relative that has old immense trees in a small city that keep getting more and more urbanized.
Those are the tallest/oldest trees in the area, they are fucking majestic.
The neighbor sold and the new owners coming from the big city asked to cut the trees cause it drops leaves in their new pool.
Gently remind them that if they kill those trees they are liable for 3x the replacement value of the same type and age of the trees.
Maybe even get an estimate from an arborist of what replanting a tree that size would cost.
Solid advice here u/FreakinMaui. If Reddit has taught me anything it’s that a surprising amount of these types of interactions end with the person coming home one day and the tree being completely destroyed without their knowledge.
Agreed. I had a neighbor threaten one of my trees, a hundred-year-old fir that towers over my house. Got an arborist to look at it within a week and informed the neighbor via certified letter that any damage to the tree would be *very* expensive for him.
(That said, I also took his complaints seriously in order to smooth things over. The arborist analyzed any potential root damage to the neighbors' foundation and septic tank and found no danger. I also made sure any overhanging branches were trimmed enough that my neighbor could enjoy his yard without having to duck; and I still pick up bags and bags of pine cones off his property every year so he doesn't have to make his grandsons do it.)
But if there's *any* threat to a tree on your property, it's absolutely critical to get an appraisal done while the tree is still safe and healthy. Legal action becomes much more difficult when the tree's value is based on post-mortem guesswork.
This happened in my town recently, except it was a large developer who bought a cemetery (I think), and cut trees without even waiting for approval from the city
This is real -here's the article
https://ktvz.com/news/bend/2023/12/29/tree-cutting-at-greenwood-cemetery-property-before-possible-zone-change-request-prompts-city-stop-work-order/
Pisses me off so much that people kill trees for the most asinine of reasons. I'd go walking along the beach paths and see sign after sign from the council to the tune of "These Trees have been poisoned and we're investigating the issue you naughty people you, pretty please don't be mean to trees or we'll be forced to post another sign!"
It's just such a weak and sad response to what should be a jail-time offence. They kill a tree "for a view" they should not be allowed to enjoy that "view" one tiny bit.
That or they should just go out to said trees with a protractor, mark every house that could possibly "benefit" from killing off the tree "for the view" and fine them hundreds and thousands of dollars to replace the tree or replace it with a Wind turbine or something to offset the environmental damage they did. Neighbours will be really quick to start protecting trees and forget about "ocean views" when they realise a single dead tree will bankrupt or jail them.
Anyway, fuck people that kill native trees.
Treble damage typically applies to timber trespass. When taking landscaping you usually get hit with replacement costs which is way worse than 3x board footage.
It's the same kind of entitlement that leads to people planting non-native grasses, especially in deserts. They have a specific idea in mind for what they want and will accept nothing else, even if nature itself abhors their choices.
A lady in my city did this. They built a massive shipping port around her little house. It was like this but surrounded in miles of shipping containers. She would not be bought out or intimidated into moving. Legend.
Nice to hear about this. In my home country in late 90s ~ early 00s was a lot of development going on. Whenever there was a property in a block that was mostly bought out, a small "accidental" fire would break out at night, usually at a garage or a shed of sorts. Owners that still haven't sold before the fire, then would usually accept the new lower offer (because of damaged property and fire risk, lol).
Everybody knew who was responsible, but not even cops wanted to dip their fingers in lol. Wild times. A jilted wife could post a certain keyworded ad in newspaper and certain men would "take care" of her cheating hubby for $100, and all cops would say is "yup, an accident, sorry Mrs Hornydick" cause they knew if they started investigating they would be next.
Wild times.
Your mom is awesome and I hope you and anyone else who might inherit it one day hopefully far in the future understands how amazing this property is not just for the value of it.
I hope it stays this way forever! Maybe after some time they could remodel the house or replace it, but for the love of god keep the trees and keep the plot of land how it is.
Unless the old lady puts the place in trust with a stipulation to not be sold, it will be sold. This lot costs millions by the look of it and will be hard to pass easy money.
Unfortunately, the likely scenario is that a family member or two will not be able to pass up on the opportunity for a quick payout. I would put money on this place being sold, dozed, and replaced by rental properties. Don't take my word for it though, literally look at the picture. 99% of the land has been developed as such, why wouldn't this particular plot the second an elderly person passes?
They could get a conservation easement. A large one-time payout to permanently extinguish development rights on the property, with a nice reduced property tax burden to boot. In a neighborhood like that, I bet there'd be citizens groups that would love to help with a conservation easement. Keep it private, or even turn it into a park if the family no longer wants it.
This would be the best option. Turning it into a small park after the bloodline decides they want to cash out would greatly benefit the surrounding neighborhood.
Something like this happened to my grandparents. The value of their property plummeted because all the surrounding countryside got turned into tight packed suburbs. No one would buy it for the lovely huge house it was, and they had to sell to the developer who bulldozed the perfectly good, very well maintained home.
r/treelaw has entered chat
edit: I should add context and say that if they ever strong armed your ma, there is about 15 lawyers in that sub that will eat their souls on her account for laughs.
/r/treelaw is almost the sole reason that I decided to get a survey before installing a fence.
I can move the fence if the informal lot lines are wrong, but I can't replace the tree I modify or cut down.
I read that’s a joke implying he’s not taking his meds bc the meds he would have been treated with would have prevented him from having wine, liver or beans.
That's right, three specific food items you're not supposed to have with MAOI medication are; liver, beans and wine.
Hard to imagine any of the Lecters taking their meds anyway.
Looks like a great neighborhood. She gets her own nice plot of land and everyone else gets an upzoned neighborhood.
Edit: hijacking my time at the top to tell everyone to support more housing development in their own local communities ESPECIALLY in college towns. We face a severe income inequality crisis exacerbated by a lack of available housing. By upzoning your local community you can do your part to help make America much more affordable.
And for those of you who don’t believe me….
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/11/us-housing-supply-shortage-crisis-2022/672240/
Edit 2: ive had almost 50 NIMBYs angrily respond to me and not one has provided a single source. Here’s yet another source showing how increased supply in Austin caused rents to drop.
https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2024/02/austin-apartments-boomed-and-rents-went-down-now-some-builders-are-dismantling-the-cranes/
And how long before some municipal officials are given a carrot or stick approach from developers to approve rezoning the land. A nice old lady’s dying wish doesn’t usually stand up to urban development. If public pressure doesn’t manage to rule the day and decisions made, it’s usually money that does. Money doesn’t like new parkland, so it will need to be a large public protest or several to convince officials to keep those trees in the ground.
The developers of the nearby land would absolutely want this if they didn't get the land willed to them. No effort and no competition able to buy it while raising the value of their investment due to having a close park.
Australian extreme example of a not entirely dissimilar thing:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Suburbanhell/comments/topd71/defiant\_family\_refuse\_to\_sell\_50m\_sydney\_property/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Suburbanhell/comments/topd71/defiant_family_refuse_to_sell_50m_sydney_property/)
Except in the photo here, it actually looks like a nice plot of land to be on, with trees and privacy. The Australian example looks like a barren hellscape and the 50m could get them ridiculously better quality of life in innumerable other places.
And build UP ffs, too much urban sprawl, even when there is space.
I live in SoCal and seeing the massive single family home developments drives me nuts
I found this interesting and it might apply. In Canada, you can give Ducks Unlimited a conservation easement on the property where you still retain ownership but the land is protected and it carries over from owner to owner where they cannot alter the land in a way that it will destroy it. In most cases, you can also get tax breaks. More info [here](https://www.ducks.org/conservation/land-protection/ducks-unlimiteds-conservation-easement-program)
So the convenience of living in a fully developed neighborhood with the benefits of forest life for your mental well-being??
Jesus, she's playing 5d chess.
Although the trees in the photo are really nice, if the adjacent townhomes weren't built and instead the equivalent number of homes that resembled OP's mom's house got built, we'd have to chop down exponentially more trees in a new forest somewhere on the edge of a town.
I was walking through the backyard yesterday to see if the mother bear and 2 cubs was still hanging out in the yard (it wasn't) and a few of her cedar trees are huge. Like 7 or 8 feet in diameter.
It’s like in Sim City when one tile didn’t get developed
Oh I love this satisfying mental image thank you 😊 🙏 💯
"developed"
There is a guy in miami that has buildings all around his property. He would not move. The city harrasses the hell out of him for every little thing they can so he moves.he is holding out on them.
> For months, he's been negotiating with the city over a series of code violations, involving everything from overgrown grass to feral cats. At one point, he says, the fines totaled nearly $30,000. Wnich is just mafiosi style extortion from city and 'connected' owners of surrounding plots.
that 30k thing was his carport (Orlando Capote). it predates the house and it turns out the fines and infractions were a clerical error. the city resolved that and he upgraded that carport with a new cloth top. but yeah his home is completely surrounded. check out the image at the top of this article [https://wsvn.com/news/investigations/coral-gables-resident-still-refuses-to-sell-decades-old-home-surrounded-by-massive-development/](https://wsvn.com/news/investigations/coral-gables-resident-still-refuses-to-sell-decades-old-home-surrounded-by-massive-development/)
The article is so sad. He's basically the guy from Up. Those high rise developments have ruined all of his hobbies, and he doesn't even get much sun on his property.
Google maps has him tagged as "The Hero of Coral Gables" with 5 stars. Doesn't really make up for the lack of sun, but it's something.
[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hero+of+Coral+Gables/@25.7450836,-80.2596859,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x88d9b70075114a03:0x50a2eed2fe3034de!8m2!3d25.7450836!4d-80.257111!16s%2Fg%2F11vz2pj2bj?entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hero+of+Coral+Gables/@25.7450836,-80.2596859,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x88d9b70075114a03:0x50a2eed2fe3034de!8m2!3d25.7450836!4d-80.257111!16s%2Fg%2F11vz2pj2bj?entry=ttu) You can actually see how it used to look before the high rises were built.
That dick park is proper /r/theyknew material.
I don’t see anything named dick park, you must be… */scrolls up and to the left* 
Ponce is UK slang for "pimp," and they shaped it like a penis. They absolutely knew what they were doing.
Wow the way those high-rises just capture the sun from shining on anyone else while still having a fake-ass park on top.
NYC architecture is influenced by regulations because of this problem.
Good
For real. He's surrounded on all sides, probably only gets the noon sun.
Fuck Miami so hard. So happy I got the fuck out of there in 21.
How is it legal for them to kettle this house in a way it's barely ever touched by a ray of sunlight?
If I had to guess, I’d say they exploited the loophole in the legal system known as “having lots of money”
This is correct. You can’t build a garage without addressing how it affects your neighbors. This is obviously absurd.
From the article, it sounds like they changed the zoning from residential to something else like "light commercial" or "mixed residential" which would allow for things like this. The poor guy probably didn't even know his zone was changing, much less what it would do to his property or how to fight it. All perfectly legal, but they knew what they were doing; developers like this know how to use local ordinances to get what they want. They probably just didn't expect him to be this stubborn about it.
A good example of how just because something is legal, doesn’t make it right. Especially in a country where money can buy legality and laws.
Not sure how it's in US, but generally there are urbanistic plans than determine what can be built in certain areas. If city determined that an area can have buildings of certain height, floor count and area, it's legal. Those plans are made with the goal of shaping neighborhoods in certain ways, usual city planning stuff.
You’re explaining zoning. The only place in the us I know of that doesn’t have zoning is Houston tx.
He's explaining both zoning and land use regulations, which are technically different. Houston has no zoning but a fuck ton of land use regulations. What type of development can be built in a certain area of a city is zoning, other things like building height, floor count, etc. are land use regulations. I don't know Houston at all, but the lack of zoning means you can put an auto body shop in the middle of a residential neighborhood, but that auto body shop needs to follow what an auto body shop looks like based on what the city law says an auto body shop needs to look like. This can, in turn, act like de facto zoning in a lot of instances, but it's technically not.
Heres a good resource for that: https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/DevelopRegs/ The idea is that you can open and do business pretty much wherever you own land, but you can't create a nuisance. For instance, I can open an auto repair shop out of my garage. But if I create traffic problems by parking cars along the street, create noise problems by using loud tools at odd times, or create environmental problems due to a lack of proper equipment, I can be heavily fined or even shut down. There are several businesses like this in Houston. Some home businesses in residential areas I've seen just driving around: Several auto repair or tire shops, A/C repair, dog sitting/training/grooming, dog breeding, psychic, locksmith, tax help, and small engine repair. These are all basically run out of houses or garages in the middle of neighborhoods.
thx! Oh damn, that photo puts everything into more awful perspective.
Hey, anthony, you are a great guy and you have a pretty nice house. It would be sad, very sad, to get a clerical error that costs you that nice house. I'm just saying that it is a nice house and clerical errors happen. 
Honestly, I respect his stance, but I would take the money and move to somewhere that actually gets the sun.
I’d hold out and make them give me 10x market value.
We had a similar thing with an old house and the hospital. [They built the hospital alllll around the house](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/aug/15/more-parking-may-replace-marys-place-the-historic-/). The city kept cranking up the value until the family could no longer afford the taxes. It just got bulldozed for a parking lot.
I didn’t read your username but as as soon as I read your comment I knew you were talking about Mary’s house in Spokane. I visited the area several months ago and saw the house from the hospital’s upper floors. It was a beautiful patch of history, so sad to hear it’s been torn down to make more parking.
Agreed. I suppose it was always going to happen eventually since her descendants weren’t enormously wealthy or anything. $4.5m is a lot of money.
I like to think that was her long haul game and she’s happy to be able to have provided that.
I’d like to think that too. I think she could have managed her estate in such a way as to prevent the future sale of that property by her inheritors, but I’m not an expert at all. It is so lovely to talk to someone from Spokane, by the way :) I grew up there, my parents still live up by Mead High School
How depressing.
that’s crazy you think any city would cherish having one sane wild human around as a mascot. but they are too eager to sell out every last bit.
That is because most U.S. cities are in housing crunch and zoning limits in suburbs mean that developable land is at an insane premium. This lot for example is likely worth $8-$12 million.
[удалено]
>It's still sad driving by that old plot of land and seeing it completely turned into condos though. The address I grew up at literally doesn't even exist anymore. My childhood home was torn down for a baseball field. Pretty sure it was somewhere around first base.
Guy in Rennes, France has done the same. Right in the middle of the business park, surrounded by concrete/glass office buildings, you have this beautiful old Breton stone longiere (the traditional farmhouse in the region). The guy is a well known gardner and has published several books (we have his book on compost and mulch).
Could you share his name, please? His books spund delightful!
My hometown university had an old man who wouldnt sell either. The University harassed him, and built dorms and buildings around his little house and yard. His home stuck out like a sore thumb. The old man held out until he finally died (I think from the stress) and his family finally sold the home to the University.
Is this University of Illinois, by chance?
This sort of story happens in almost any university town. Which house were you thinking of in Champaign-Urbana.
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/16/1236266122/florida-man-refused-sell-home-developer-coral-gables#:~:text=Weekend%20Edition%20Saturday-,Florida%20man%20who%20wouldn't%20sell%20lives%20in%20big%20buildings,success%20comes%20with%20a%20price.
I recently saw a video about a man in Florida who is living in a similar situation, except the city (Coral Gables, I think?) is doing all this shady shit to try to get him out. I hope he never leaves and I hope he’s put the house in a trust or something if he doesn’t have any descendants to leave it to.
what a legend! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tzYMusZXqY
Man American news is so over the top lol
Lived around there and Channel 7 was a running joke in my house because of how ridiculous they can be with simple news stories
Alright, folks, buckle up because this is one wild ride! We've got a jaw-dropping twist coming your way, but hold onto your seats because you're not going to believe what's about to unfold. Picture this: a series of events so utterly unbelievable, you'll be scratching your head in disbelief. But before we dive into the latest bombshell, let's take a step back and revisit the rollercoaster of events that have led us to this moment.
Would be hilarious to somehow get it marked as a historical landmark
I’m sure the birds also really don’t want your mother to move. They need some trees
If I owned one of those townhouses I wouldn't want your mother to move either, those are beautiful trees and much better to look at out the window than my neighbors roof.
Absolutely, I thought the same! ✨
Everyone wants to own a townhouse while also being surrounded by trees and meadows.
In other words, everyone wants to own a townhouse, but everyone also wants no one else to own a townhouse.
people just want developers to not clear-cut the old growth at the perimeters of these lots. The way we develop land is orcish.
Townhouses and apartments are the best way to provide people houses and have the extra space for wildlife. It takes up less land per family. The difference is what the developers and/or city planners do with the saved land.
But we can have both high-density housing and trees. House lots can have trees on them, the city could keep green strips between lots, etc.
Totally agree. That's how every house should look like!
My mum went to visit my brother recently. He's in a soulless new build estate and it was really eerie but she couldn't put her finger on it. It's only when she got back she realised there were no trees anywhere. No hedges, no plants, no foliage whatsoever. Just bright green turf.
You really notice it in the summer when it’s hot and there is no shade Anywhere. It’s pretty terrible. I live in an old neighborhood but the same happens here as the trees get older or damaged by storms or diseases. If they aren’t replaced afterwards, it doesn’t feel nearly as nice and I tend to avoid walking on streets that don’t have them when it’s hot. Streets lined with nice big trees have a wonderful feel to them and I frequently see this as a selling point on real estate listings too ‘3 bed colonial on beautiful tree-lined street.” I don’t understand why so many new tracts are not planting them.
All my friends who have HOAs are not allowed to plant anything besides grass. No vegetables, no flowers, and absolutely NO trees. They'll get fined if a dandelion pops up.
What the heck. What is the purpose of that?? Landscaping can make a shitty place look amazing and an already nice place look outstanding. I don’t understand this type of ruling at all.
A lot of people, like a shocking amount, see nature and think "bugs, snakes, dirty, gross, ugly, danger" and those people join HOA boards.
Same with all the pollinators. That plot is probably full of bees and butterflies.
I imagine it's good for the air quality in the area as well, the trees might act like a giant air filter catching particles.
unless it's spring, then they spread the particles! :D (source: have allergies. yes i'd still want to keep the trees. but it's pretty funny)
This. House with area surounding it play a huge factor in biodiversity (not hige pstches of empty english grass mind you). So, your mother keeping it, is doing nature a favorite. Hopefully you will keep it eventually OP
This! Imagine the sad of all those big developers if OP’s mom put her property into a land trust and no one was ever allowed to build on it…and the joy of all the little birdies and bugs.
Won't somebody please think of the developers.
They just did, that's why they're suggesting a land trust!
I like that typo because it sounds so wholesome to do Nature a "favorite".
Do nature a soil id
Her own little rural oasis. Dig it.
No don't
Don't tell me what to do.
Don't tell him what to do.
Look, buddy, I don't even tell myself what to do
I'm not your buddy, pal.
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I'm not your friend bro
I am not your bro bud
I am not your bud, mate.
Do NOT let her purchase large numbers of balloons or answer the door to Boy Scouts.
Wilderness Explorers, not Boy Scouts!
They couldn't get the naming or likeness rights sadly.
I think it's better that way; you can make it whatever group you want to in your mind at that point
Sweat Lodge 12
I thought an Up reference would def be the top comment
But I can help you cross the porch
Thats badass I wouldnt move either
Same. And I would love living next door to her beautiful mature trees!
I have an old relative that has old immense trees in a small city that keep getting more and more urbanized. Those are the tallest/oldest trees in the area, they are fucking majestic. The neighbor sold and the new owners coming from the big city asked to cut the trees cause it drops leaves in their new pool.
Gently remind them that if they kill those trees they are liable for 3x the replacement value of the same type and age of the trees. Maybe even get an estimate from an arborist of what replanting a tree that size would cost.
Solid advice here u/FreakinMaui. If Reddit has taught me anything it’s that a surprising amount of these types of interactions end with the person coming home one day and the tree being completely destroyed without their knowledge.
Agreed. I had a neighbor threaten one of my trees, a hundred-year-old fir that towers over my house. Got an arborist to look at it within a week and informed the neighbor via certified letter that any damage to the tree would be *very* expensive for him. (That said, I also took his complaints seriously in order to smooth things over. The arborist analyzed any potential root damage to the neighbors' foundation and septic tank and found no danger. I also made sure any overhanging branches were trimmed enough that my neighbor could enjoy his yard without having to duck; and I still pick up bags and bags of pine cones off his property every year so he doesn't have to make his grandsons do it.) But if there's *any* threat to a tree on your property, it's absolutely critical to get an appraisal done while the tree is still safe and healthy. Legal action becomes much more difficult when the tree's value is based on post-mortem guesswork.
This happened in my town recently, except it was a large developer who bought a cemetery (I think), and cut trees without even waiting for approval from the city This is real -here's the article https://ktvz.com/news/bend/2023/12/29/tree-cutting-at-greenwood-cemetery-property-before-possible-zone-change-request-prompts-city-stop-work-order/
Pisses me off so much that people kill trees for the most asinine of reasons. I'd go walking along the beach paths and see sign after sign from the council to the tune of "These Trees have been poisoned and we're investigating the issue you naughty people you, pretty please don't be mean to trees or we'll be forced to post another sign!" It's just such a weak and sad response to what should be a jail-time offence. They kill a tree "for a view" they should not be allowed to enjoy that "view" one tiny bit. That or they should just go out to said trees with a protractor, mark every house that could possibly "benefit" from killing off the tree "for the view" and fine them hundreds and thousands of dollars to replace the tree or replace it with a Wind turbine or something to offset the environmental damage they did. Neighbours will be really quick to start protecting trees and forget about "ocean views" when they realise a single dead tree will bankrupt or jail them. Anyway, fuck people that kill native trees.
It’s so fucked, we should be protecting native trees at all costs.
Don't fuck with r/treelaw
Treble damage typically applies to timber trespass. When taking landscaping you usually get hit with replacement costs which is way worse than 3x board footage.
It baffles me that people don't admire trees for what they are. Seriously can we just remove those people instead of the trees?
It's the same kind of entitlement that leads to people planting non-native grasses, especially in deserts. They have a specific idea in mind for what they want and will accept nothing else, even if nature itself abhors their choices.
>even if nature itself arbors their choices.
*grooooan* take my upvote.
That's how you make an unabomber. Not cool.
Damn people suck
A lady in my city did this. They built a massive shipping port around her little house. It was like this but surrounded in miles of shipping containers. She would not be bought out or intimidated into moving. Legend.
Nice to hear about this. In my home country in late 90s ~ early 00s was a lot of development going on. Whenever there was a property in a block that was mostly bought out, a small "accidental" fire would break out at night, usually at a garage or a shed of sorts. Owners that still haven't sold before the fire, then would usually accept the new lower offer (because of damaged property and fire risk, lol). Everybody knew who was responsible, but not even cops wanted to dip their fingers in lol. Wild times. A jilted wife could post a certain keyworded ad in newspaper and certain men would "take care" of her cheating hubby for $100, and all cops would say is "yup, an accident, sorry Mrs Hornydick" cause they knew if they started investigating they would be next. Wild times.
Bold words until they offer you a couple of million dollars to move out so they can build (from my estimation) around 60 townhouses on the land.
Couple million? From this image, if this was in my city, you're looking at 10mm EASY
You're telling me this is where all my 10mm disappear to?
Your mom is awesome and I hope you and anyone else who might inherit it one day hopefully far in the future understands how amazing this property is not just for the value of it.
I hope it stays this way forever! Maybe after some time they could remodel the house or replace it, but for the love of god keep the trees and keep the plot of land how it is.
Unless the old lady puts the place in trust with a stipulation to not be sold, it will be sold. This lot costs millions by the look of it and will be hard to pass easy money.
Depends how much money the family has. Theres a reason spite houses were (are) a thing after all.
Unfortunately, the likely scenario is that a family member or two will not be able to pass up on the opportunity for a quick payout. I would put money on this place being sold, dozed, and replaced by rental properties. Don't take my word for it though, literally look at the picture. 99% of the land has been developed as such, why wouldn't this particular plot the second an elderly person passes?
Most of the time is bc the person has more than one kid, and the lot value is too much for one to buy the others out.
Also an issue if they can’t afford the tax.
They could get a conservation easement. A large one-time payout to permanently extinguish development rights on the property, with a nice reduced property tax burden to boot. In a neighborhood like that, I bet there'd be citizens groups that would love to help with a conservation easement. Keep it private, or even turn it into a park if the family no longer wants it.
This would be the best option. Turning it into a small park after the bloodline decides they want to cash out would greatly benefit the surrounding neighborhood.
Something like this happened to my grandparents. The value of their property plummeted because all the surrounding countryside got turned into tight packed suburbs. No one would buy it for the lovely huge house it was, and they had to sell to the developer who bulldozed the perfectly good, very well maintained home.
I feel like a lot of people who actually want a nice home out in the countryside don't want a property surrounded by suburbs.
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r/treelaw has entered chat edit: I should add context and say that if they ever strong armed your ma, there is about 15 lawyers in that sub that will eat their souls on her account for laughs.
/r/treelaw is almost the sole reason that I decided to get a survey before installing a fence. I can move the fence if the informal lot lines are wrong, but I can't replace the tree I modify or cut down.
Yeah, don't fuck with trees. And if you are going to, ask Saruman how cutting down the forests went.
3 of which would serve it with a nice chianti
Don’t forget the fava beans
FfFfFfFfFfFfFfFfFfFfFfFfFfFfFfFfFfFf
I read that’s a joke implying he’s not taking his meds bc the meds he would have been treated with would have prevented him from having wine, liver or beans.
That's right, three specific food items you're not supposed to have with MAOI medication are; liver, beans and wine. Hard to imagine any of the Lecters taking their meds anyway.
Yeah, but what about bird law?
Bird law in this country is not governed by reason.
See now I’m invested in this idea of badass environmentalist lawyers…tell me more!
Is that you down there holding the controls to the drone?
Yes, I was flying my Mini 3 pro
Great shot! Nice little self-portrait. Your mom is a strong woman. I hope you can keep it in the family for many years. Give her my love.
Looks like a great neighborhood. She gets her own nice plot of land and everyone else gets an upzoned neighborhood. Edit: hijacking my time at the top to tell everyone to support more housing development in their own local communities ESPECIALLY in college towns. We face a severe income inequality crisis exacerbated by a lack of available housing. By upzoning your local community you can do your part to help make America much more affordable. And for those of you who don’t believe me…. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/11/us-housing-supply-shortage-crisis-2022/672240/ Edit 2: ive had almost 50 NIMBYs angrily respond to me and not one has provided a single source. Here’s yet another source showing how increased supply in Austin caused rents to drop. https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2024/02/austin-apartments-boomed-and-rents-went-down-now-some-builders-are-dismantling-the-cranes/
Yeah how many people get to live next to a stand of mature trees, with a quiet old lady on it no less, fuck hope she never kicks it
The resident crone. I now know what I want to be when I grow up!
Yep, nestled in a wood with a little garden. This is the way.
It’s exactly how it should be. She gets to live in her place….and she doesn’t get to prevent apartments from being built on her neighbors.
Maybe she’ll live forever by enticing children to consume a potion relieving them of their youth.
her potions are too strong. They'll have to find weaker potions.
But they're going to battle...
We must inform her they're soon off to battle, and they need some of her strongest potions.
You can't handle my potions. They're too strong for you.
Fine. I'll go elsewhere for my potions. But you're a rascal.
Hopefully they keep the land as a public park after she dies so that the trees can stay
I guess that would depend on the people who inherit her property.
For sure unless she wills it as parkland.
And how long before some municipal officials are given a carrot or stick approach from developers to approve rezoning the land. A nice old lady’s dying wish doesn’t usually stand up to urban development. If public pressure doesn’t manage to rule the day and decisions made, it’s usually money that does. Money doesn’t like new parkland, so it will need to be a large public protest or several to convince officials to keep those trees in the ground.
You can create a conservation easement which prevents any future development.
The developers of the nearby land would absolutely want this if they didn't get the land willed to them. No effort and no competition able to buy it while raising the value of their investment due to having a close park.
Who said she was quiet? She could be loudly blasting and crip walking to "not like us" as we speak. She probably doesn't have work tomorrow
it's almost like a suburban version of new yorker living next to central park
Australian extreme example of a not entirely dissimilar thing: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Suburbanhell/comments/topd71/defiant\_family\_refuse\_to\_sell\_50m\_sydney\_property/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Suburbanhell/comments/topd71/defiant_family_refuse_to_sell_50m_sydney_property/)
Except in the photo here, it actually looks like a nice plot of land to be on, with trees and privacy. The Australian example looks like a barren hellscape and the 50m could get them ridiculously better quality of life in innumerable other places.
yeah, terrible plot of land
And build UP ffs, too much urban sprawl, even when there is space. I live in SoCal and seeing the massive single family home developments drives me nuts
She will need a fence or else her yard will turn into the communal dog shitbox
 He approves
I bet she bought her home and all that land for less than one of those new condos
Mom and dad bought the lot in 1962 for $2000. Dad designed & built the house all by himself over about 5 years in the early 70s.
$2000 in 1962 is worth about $20,500 in today's dollars. Wow. Thanks for sharing the backstory, very interesting!
BC?
Yes
Shit the land is worth like 10m cad huh? Your mom did well.
Yeah, my first thought was how much that land is worth.
I found this interesting and it might apply. In Canada, you can give Ducks Unlimited a conservation easement on the property where you still retain ownership but the land is protected and it carries over from owner to owner where they cannot alter the land in a way that it will destroy it. In most cases, you can also get tax breaks. More info [here](https://www.ducks.org/conservation/land-protection/ducks-unlimiteds-conservation-easement-program)
Burke Mountain?
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Anyone against mom on this one is wrong.
Make sure her insurance is kept up if those trees fall, they will now fall on townhouses
I guess those townhouses shouldn’t have been built so close to the trees. I’m calling out for tree law here!
What about if there’s birds in the trees? Does that cross over into bird-law?
Why wouldnt it that is a very dumb question. I am an expert in bird law.
And various bird lawyerings
As long as the trees are healthy, she’s not responsible
Healthy trees falling is not on the owner of the land.
Lol she got the best house on the block and they all know it.
I’d lean into being the witch in the woods. Buy her a smoke machine and have some fun, year long Halloween vibes.
Reminds me of this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_the_Dead_(painting)
May she live forever and never sell.
Tell her to put it all in a trust and none of you should ever sell!
That looks like an amazing piece of property.
So the convenience of living in a fully developed neighborhood with the benefits of forest life for your mental well-being?? Jesus, she's playing 5d chess.
Your mom is my hero. Preserve biodiversity.
Although the trees in the photo are really nice, if the adjacent townhomes weren't built and instead the equivalent number of homes that resembled OP's mom's house got built, we'd have to chop down exponentially more trees in a new forest somewhere on the edge of a town.
Mom is OG
that's a dope ass yard in the middle of all the cookie cutter townhouses
I wanna see a before pic
Those are a lot of big trees good lord
I was walking through the backyard yesterday to see if the mother bear and 2 cubs was still hanging out in the yard (it wasn't) and a few of her cedar trees are huge. Like 7 or 8 feet in diameter.