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