Todd,

Another problem with this parking pad/brick wall is the roof run off.
He buried the downspout from his garage under his parking pad so all of
the run off from his roof flows onto our property (which is downhill
from him). Acutally he has 2 drains coming out of it. Maybe the second
drain one just collects the water that flows onto this parking area. I
see this as a big problem with soil errosion. I know that alot of rain
water can flow off a roof in a rainstorm. I'd like to resolve this as
painlessly as possible. What other problems do you see with this
situation?

Todd H. wrote:
" writes:
My neighbor recently built what he claimed was a brick wall about 1 ft
from our property line. He then had a truck load of gravel added to the
wall, in effect creating a parking pad off his driveway. He neglected
to get a building permit or to contact zoning. I found out from zoning
that there's a 5 ft setback on driveways. He promptly parked his
trailer on his new driveway which is above our fence line (since his
property sits on a small high above our property).The zoning board has
since told him that he can't park on his new driveway since it hasn't
been approved. I'm a little irritated at this neighbor for being so
sneaky about the way that he put this driveway in. I think that his
theory is to just do it and see if he gets caught. I'm assuming that
he'll be applying for a zoning permit since that's his only option
other than removing it. I don't know what happens at a zoning meeting
since I've never been to one. Does it cost money? What questions should
I ask. I hope someone can give me some advice on this.

At the meeting they will take neighbor comments. You absolutely
should attend, and if this development bothers you and you feel it
will adversely affect your property value (it should, and it will),
complain and complain loudly. Your tack is: I object, his
improvements are not in accordance with the rules, he did not seek the
proper permits and they adversely affect your property--tell the board
you want it to enforce the zoning laws and require the neighbor to
remove the illegal structure, or make it comply with side yard and
driveway setback requirements.


--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/