Fences & neighbors

[Wagtail]

:drool:

It's winter here & I've got my wood heater going... THAT is a thing of beauty!

 

[Creamer]

Did you get your neighbor to split the cost? Every year?

 

[dodge man]

Its a fairly common requirement depending on the state. Tradition has it you stand on your own land and look at your neighbors ground, you build the half on your right and he stands on his ground, looks at you, and builds the half to his right. It was common practice in Illinois but I had a lawyer tell me there has been a couple of cases where the person that needed the fence had to pay for all of it. There is even and offical called a "fence viewer" in each county but I suspect most counties don't have such a thing any more.

 

[farmer2009]

We also have the "local option". But I've never asked my neighbors to build a fence to keep my cows in. But I have gone to them and asked for permission to doze an old fence and a tractor path on both sides of it for maintenance. Never have had an objection.
Dad went to one of his neighbors that he heard was going to be replacing a fence and offered to pay half of new fence on line. Both had cattle. Neighbor set new fence 10 feet inside property line and never said a word.

 

[Capricious]

... There is even and offical called a "fence viewer" in each county but I suspect most counties don't have such a thing any more.

"Fence viewer"

 

[oosik]

The "local" requirements around here are - you erect & maintain the fence to keep your livestock on your property. If you share a common fence line with a person having livestock then the costs are split. Out here about 99.9% of all fences are related to livestock and are barbed wire. There may be the occasional yard that has a chain link/wooden fence - however, its very rare.

 

[Mace Canute]

One can only hope that people who vote for such a law get a new neighbour who is super rich and insists on putting up a super expensive fence...

 

[Capricious]

One can only hope that people who vote for such a law get a new neighbour who is super rich and insists on putting up a super expensive fence...

1,136 voted for it, 975 voted against it, total 2,111 voted. County population about 13,982

This is supposedly how this all came about:

Making the Law Livestock-Friendly

I get the feeling that I am seeing one side of the story, especially when the guy mentions his neighbor was "from California."

"not one of us" in other words.

 

[Creamer]

One can only hope that people who vote for such a law get a new neighbour who is super rich and insists on putting up a super expensive fence...

I have to agree. The general fence law has worked for years and it makes sense - if you want livestock it is your responsibility to keep them on your property - if they damage my property your are responsible as it is your choice to have the livestock. Forcing somebody who does not want or need a fence to pay for a fence seems wrong!

Even after reading the article this rancher just found a way to force his neighbors to pay for half the fence he needs. Of course I am not sure why the neighbor was upset to start with - he sure wasn't being very neighborly! Last winter I had a friend that had a very tall hickory blow down and being on a 1 acre lot it fell across a fence into his neighbor's yard. It only made sense that he go clean up the mess and repair the chain link fence that got knocked over even if it meant getting in his neighbor's yard to do it. He took care of it and life goes on.

 

[Capricious]

"..he sure wasn't being very neighborly..."



I get the felling that there is a lot more to this story that is not being told. And I suspect there is some "history" of trouble between the two.



This gentleman is not happy about the situation:

http://cedarrepublican.com/opinion/...cle_90c2a046-e388-11e4-81e7-3b1d621a74ed.html