The War on Trees: How to Diffuse Neighborly Feuds over View Rights

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Date

2020-07-01

Authors

Kisiel, Edwin

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University or Oregon School of Law

Abstract

View rights litigation is fairly uncommon in most of the United States because, in the common law, there simply is no right to a view. However, in hilly coastal areas, like Southern California’s beach cities, view rights litigation has become a boutique practice area driven by residents who want neighbors’ trees chopped down or trimmed to maintain a valuable ocean view. In response, several cities, such as the city of Laguna Beach, have created legislation that gives homeowners a right to maintain their property’s ocean view and provides for mediation to facilitate the resolution of disputes. While this has yielded some positive results, there are still stories of neighbors deliberately poisoning trees in an attempt to create ocean views. Unfortunately, it is also difficult to bring to justice the perpetrators of these crimes because it is hard to prove that a particular neighbor committed the crime.

Description

20 pages

Keywords

California, Dispute resolution, Property law, Litigation

Citation

35 J. Envtl. L. & Litig. 145