Neighbor Relations

[buckeyefarmer]

I agree with the others, get a fence up on the line and be done with it. The land looks nice.

 

[95XL883]

You are right the guy in that the new neighbor is jacking with you and trying to take your land. Like others have said, get a fence up on the property line (or 2' off if you have to) fast. I'd even post it with no trespassing signs. My rationale for on the line is while you don't have farm animals right now, he does. This neighbor is trouble and should be expected to continue to push to what he can get away with. You can expect him to be unhappy but you will be unhappier if he walks all over you.

I hear you on the cost. It will be worth it. My experience is I bought 40 acres about three years ago. I had 1,400' of fence put in to mark the line before an adjacent vacant property sold. It was $4,200 but it has been worth every penny. It quickly stopped the trespassers on the vacant land from proceeding onto my ground. When the vacant property finally sold, there was no question where the property line was. I have spoken with the buyer and there has never been a question as to where the property line is.

I'm sorry you are in an unpleasant situation. That guy is unlikely to ever be a good neighbor. In my experience, the aggravation will only get worse until you deal with it. Good luck.

 

[SPIKER]

Farm fence can be on the line, well HE HAS HORSES so I would say to protect YOUR LAND from HIS FARM animals you should be safe!

M

 

[mapper]

Out here on the other coast the rules about livestock and owner responsibility are pretty clear. The owner off the animals is responsible for keeping them on his (or hers) property, a neighbor can lawfully shoot and keep a stray animal on his property. Mind you it doesn't make for particularly good neighborly relations to do so, I have been involved in more than a couple of stray critter round ups over the year's. I also happen to like my neighbors and they would do the same for me.
Point is, if he has horses and you don't it is his responsibility to see to their confinement and welfare, not yours. I would defiantly put up a fence, if it is not sufficient to keep his horses off your property so be it, he is responsible for any damage to your property (including your fence). While the cost of the fence may be high it will probably not be as high as getting him back on his side of the property line if he is allowed to encroach.
As to his nervous horses, that to is his problem and not yours, any lawful activities you engage in on your property that disturb them are not legally your problem. If he needs a buffer it's on him to provide it.
Get this situation under control sooner than later,this guy does not sound like a good neighbor!

 

[murphy1244]

Wonder if his neighbor is any kin to Shield arcs neighbor? Seems to be the same breed.

 

[Labrauer]

Some people can be real A holes. I can be a real A hole when it comes to someone wanting something that is not theirs for instance my neighbor moved in and is one of those ham radio operators that report weather and such around the area. Now mind you that I have lived at my residence for 40 years before he moved in. He put up a couple of large towers one of which is around 200 foot tall and on the top of it is a large antenna probably 30 x 30 foot. Then he has a camera up there also which makes me uncomfortable as he has looked around the neighborhood because he said he had a interference with his transmissions he send out. Now that is a fringe on my privacy he being able to look at what I and other neighbors are doing anytime he wants. He came over one day and told me that my electric fence was the interference he was getting and wanted me to take it down and if I didn't he would contact the FCC and they would make me take it down. As you can bet it didn't sit with me well so next he installed another large tower and had the galls to run the guide wire 20 feet in on my property not asking and also a ground wire. I being the A hole that I am told him to remove it or I will let my lawyer handle it in court. Well he never did so I took it upon myself to remove both wires with a pair of wire cutters rolled the wires up and kindly put them in my garbage can for pickup. Now I am known as a A hole I hear from what he has told the other neighbors. What he doesn't realize is that the reason I put the electric fence up was to protect my livestock from the wolves, and coyotes. He has filed a complaint with the FCC but I haven't heard a word from them nor him in three years. Anyhow sometimes you have to do things you hate to do in order to keep what is yours weather it be with a fence a guard dog or anything else. If I were you I would put me up a electric fence 6 inches inside my property line and I guarantee when a horse hits that hot wire once it will never come close to it again and it only takes once. And one other thing it will do is keep him off your property also. As far as planting trees on the property line that is a no no as when the trees get large they will drop branches on your side that you will have to take care of and it will be trouble when you ever want to replace the fence years to come. Get a hand on it now or you'll never be able to. Don't give him an inch there are laws that protect you from people like him.

 

[Jim Shooz]

What would happen if one of his horses put its foot in a hole and broke a leg while it was on your property ????

Get that fence up quickly.

 

[Leejohn]

As everyone has said get the fence asap, if he gets one up before you it well take years and alot of $$ to get it moved 1st thing to do is check the division fence laws for you state. Here in Mo it's min of 4 barbwire with T post set 10 or 12' apart. If you go 12' apart then you have to put in stays. Labrauer said a electric fence but I don't that well fly as a division fence, but it would make him take you to court to get a right division fence up. Then here in Mo he would have to pay for the fence if you have no livestock. A division fence should go on the line with No setback. With a 2' setback you could end up with 4' of dead ground.
Thinking about that electric fence. If he doesn't know the division fence laws you might be able to stick it to him. If you put up the right kind of fence I still think you can make him pay 1/2 of it. Again check your state division fence laws.

Added;; You said aroud 750' of fence. That would only cost around $400 in T post and around $100 in wire. With a good man, and you could do that in a day or a day and a half.

 

[TomSeller]

. He put up a couple of large towers one of which is around 200 foot tall and on the top of it is a large antenna probably 30 x 30 foot. Then he has a camera up there also which makes me uncomfortable as he has looked around the neighborhood because he said he had a interference with his transmissions he send out. Now that is a fringe on my privacy he being able to look at what I and other neighbors are doing anytime he wants..

A camera 200' up a tower that looks down onto your property is very likely and invasion of privacy as you say. I'm surprised he was even allowed to install a 200' tall tower, are there no codes restricting that?

On the property boundary issue, I agree with the "you need a fence yesterday" crowd.

 

[oosik]

When we move here in '82 I installed 5 strand barb wire fence around my 80 acres - 7920 ft. I don't, so much, remember the expenses as the pains from hand pounding in all the 133 T-posts - all 660 of them. I have two neighbors - one on the north & one on the south. The south neighbor is a really great guy - he helped install some of the fence and advised that the "law of the land" was - people had to fence to keep their animal on their property. Ever since I put up the fence on that side he has completely taken over its maintenance. The neighbor to the north is a "pill". At one point he found the time to come over and complain about me putting up the fence. Said it was not on the property line - to which I said, "I agree" - its been pulled back onto my property three feet so I can walk outside my fence and still not be on his property. That made him really mad - but what the hey - its his "mad" and I'm really glad he did not offer to help. Life goes on.

BTW - the north fence line wasn't really pull back three feet - but since NOBODY out here ever gets their property surveyed - he will never know. And I'm 100% sure he would never pay for a survey to find out where the property line really is.

I know where my property corners are from those established when the property was homesteaded in 1892.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

A camera 200' up a tower that looks down onto your property is very likely and invasion of privacy as you say. I'm surprised he was even allowed to install a 200' tall tower, are there no codes restricting that?

On the property boundary issue, I agree with the "you need a fence yesterday" crowd.

Following this rabbit trail, if he is a ham operator, he likely has an FCC license. In my county our towers are limited to 75' without a variance.

Without much digging a typical ham operator is limited to 200' feet high by the FCC without special permiting for consideration of aviation. FCC: Wireless Services: Amateur Radio Service: Releases: PRB-1

Under local ordinances point 3:

3. Conflicts between amateur operators regarding radio antennas and local authorities regarding restrictive ordinances are common. The amateur operator is governed by the regulations contained in Part 97 of our rules. Those rules do not limit the height of an amateur antenna but they require, for aviation safety reasons, that certain FAA notification and FCC approval procedures must be followed for antennas which exceed 200 feet in height above ground level or antennas which are to be erected near airports. Thus, under FCC rules some amateur antenna support structures require obstruction marking and lighting. On the other hand, local municipalities or governing bodies frequently enact regulations limiting antennas and their support structures in height and locations, e.g. to side or rear yards, for health, safety or aesthetic considerations. These limiting regulations can result in conflict because the effectiveness of the communications that emanate from an amateur radio station are directly dependent upon the location and the height of the antenna. Amateur operators maintain that they are precluded from operating in certain bands allocated for their use if the height of their antennas is limited by a local ordinance.

If you look at point 5, the radio operator had to comply with the local ordinance.

5. John C. Chapman, an amateur living in Bloomington, Minnesota, commented that he was not able to obtain a building permit to install an amateur radio antenna exceeding 35 feet in height because the Bloomington city ordinance restricted "structures" heights to 35 feet. Mr. Chapman said that the ordinance, when written, undoubtedly applied to buildings but was now being applied to antennas in the absence of a specific ordinance regulating them. There were two options open to him if he wanted to engage in amateur communications. He could request a variance to the ordinance by way of a hearing before the City Council, or he could obtain affidavits from his neighbors swearing that they had no objection to the proposed antenna installation. He got the building permit after obtaining the cooperation of his neighbors. His concern, however, is that he had to get permission from several people before he could effectively engage in radio communications for which he had a valid FCC amateur license.

Which is to say, Labrauer should check with his county to learn if there is a height restriction like there is in my county. If there is a height restriction, Labrauer should ask if a variance was granted by the local county board for a 200' tall tower.

 

[oosik]

I'm a ham radio operator. Were I ever to need a 200 foot tower - I'd have to sell the tractor for the $$$ - that will never happen. Here, I'm limited to a 200' tower by FCC and if I wanted to go higher it would only be with the approval of the FAA - and some sweet "sugar mama".

 

[dodge man]

I am a land surveyor and I often get called years after a problem like this starts. I agree with all the other advice, put the fence up. I would expect him to whine about it but just say you want to keep your livestock on your side of the line.

Also with my experience, when people have a boundary dispute, it's always seems rare to me the dispute is over the boundary, it's usually personal. The people aren't getting along and the boundary is something to fight over. Don't let it get to that point.

 

[EddieWalker]

No need to go all in with the fence right away, just start by setting your corner posts and a string line, or better, a single wire stretched tight from the corner posts. Be sure to set the corner posts deep in the ground and use concrete. You don't need anything fancier then just one post since you are not putting up fencing, bracing isn't needed. Just make a permanent line that it will be impossible to pretend not to know where it is.

 

[s219]

The guy has an awful lot of nerve -- what a piece of work. Sounds like he bought his parcel thinking he could use yours too. I think he needs to learn to live with what's on his side of the line, and he can use his own acreage for trees and buffer. Agree with what everyone else has said.

 

[gsganzer]

I'd talk to him and go half on putting a fence on the property line. If either of you sold, you wouldn't want a fence that's not on the property line. Then each of you plant a coordinated buffer on your own sides of the fence. This way you both share in the fence and both minimize the space you loose for the buffer of trees.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm not sure what a buffer is. If it's to block the view of each other, then I would do that as far away from the fence as possible. Trees are the mortal enemy of a fence and should be removed or planted at least 50 feet away from it. You can't do anything if he plants a tree right next to the fence except keep fencing repair supplies on hand. Trees love to drop branches on fences all the time!!!!

 

[buckeyefarmer]

If he wanted a buffer he should have bought more land.

 

[gsganzer]

Trees are the mortal enemy of a fence and should be removed or planted at least 50 feet away from it. You can't do anything if he plants a tree right next to the fence except keep fencing repair supplies on hand. Trees love to drop branches on fences all the time!!!!

Good point. I assumed he was planting cedars or some other screen planting. I have some pines on my back property that take revenge on the fence pretty frequently. Same with the barn roof.

 

[jack707]

I would of told him NO! use your own property for your horses mine off LIMETS!.