The subject line of this story is: Hidey-Ho Neighbour

Hey Homeowner,

Not sure if you can really be prepared for crazy neighbours. Or maybe I’m crazy. Well, here’s my story and I hope you can pick up some helpful tips that can save you and your family a few headaches.

My husband and I bought a home on the ocean that needed a reno - thinking “what the heck, we can handle that, can’t we”. Once we purchased the property we took a trip to visit some friends that just live 6 houses up the beach from our new home. While we were walking by the house (with the sold sign out front!) and we heard some voices coming from inside the home, so we thought we would introduce ourselves. 

The daughter of the owner and the neighbour across the way were packing up the house. We introduced ourselves and the first thing that came out of the neighbour’s mouth was she hoped we loved trees because she had named them all. Ha I wonder what the names were, I mean what do you name a tree? Oh man, please let me know what you would call the trees please. Wow, someone else's trees. Naming you own tree's is one thing, but someone else's?

We just let the comment hang in the air. We said it was nice to meet them and heading on our way. You see, we purchased the property for a few reasons but one of them was to have a large 3 car garage to accommodate my husband's classic cars and his interests. The property had not been maintained for several years so the shrubs needed to be removed, along with - you guessed it - TREES. 

At least 10 had to go to accommodate the new garage and 2 large trees near the water where the roots were growing into our septic system. We contacted the district office for our area to confirm the bylaws and to insure if we needed permit’s we would get them. In our area no permits are required to remove unwanted trees. This is a key point: always check your local bylaws. It may seem like a small step, but it could save you a lot of trouble down the line.

We lined up an arborist, aka tree faller, and the day of removal it was a bit windy so he stated he could only remove the two trees on the backside of the property and leave the remaining for the end of the week. 

The two trees that were causing damage to our septic system came down in less than 5 minutes.. And so did the neighbours. Oh boy they were screaming! 

The next morning a Bylaw officer came by our property to check on a complaint that was made. I wonder by who. Because the two trees were near the ocean side, he stated that he needed to go back to the office to confirm what we're doing is right and then send us a letter. We were to stop all work on the property until further notice. I just was not willing to leave it until further notice. We jumped into our vehicle, headed down to the district office and hoped to clear things up. This is the right move. This guy might have been new and didn't know the answer off hand, so why wait and speak to someone who can give you the answer right away. No point in waiting and worrying. 

After discussing the situation, it was determined that we could move forward with the removal of the next set of trees. No letter needed.

When the arborist came back to finish the job, things got crazy. The neighbours across the way were both out scream, which in turn brought everyone else onto the street. They screamed, “you are ruining our paradise” and that we needed a permit for every tree that we were cutting down. Of course the bylaw office came by, as they’re required to investigate every complaint, said hi and that he loved how we were improving the property. Thankfully the trees were down and the screaming could stop… NOPE.

We still had a carriage home addition and renovation to do. So, we completed all documents required to apply for the building permits. And things take time. Surprisingly, not so surprisingly, our neighbours grew to like the awesome view of the ocean. Little did they know it would be gone once again. 

We kept that to ourselves.

So while the district office was working on getting our permit in place, they gave us the authorization to remove the two tree stumps from the backside of the property. Our neighbours were once again screaming at my husband and the gentleman that was operating the equipment, saying that we did not own the property that the trees were on and we had no right to remove the stumps. Yes, they were on an easement, but that easement was part of our property. We checked. With a legal survey.

This time I called the police, and explained the situation. Oh no it went there!  I had been recording all of the issues and dates of occurrence, just in case. Yes! This is such an important lesson: Document everything! I love how they kept track of dates and recorded every incident. Always, always have a paper trail, especially when dealing with conflicts like this.

They asked if we would like them to visit with our problem neighbours, at which point we jumped at the suggestion. We were told they would be calling us back in the next few days. As promised the police officer called us to inform us that if the neighbours continued to harass us they would be charged with harassment.

Then came the time to start building and it didn’t take long for the foundation and the garage to take form. Then the second floor. Not two days later the bylaw officer was making a visit to our property to ensure that the height of the building was within code (yet another complaint).  He mentioned that he was capping our file. We asked him what he meant and he said that we were doing nothing wrong and he saw no need to be coming by any longer, apart from mandatory permit inspections.

We are now living in the carriage house while the main housing is having a major reno. Within the next few months we hope to be back in our home and renting out our carriage house. 

We are now living in our paradise. Over time we’ve met great people in the neighbourhood, and we’re really happy that we made the move. The neighbour’s across the street now runs away when they see us, so I can only assume it must have been a great conversation with local police.

I guess the lessons learned in this whole process are trust your instincts, when you see crazy, believe it and call the police. Document everything and get a good security system for backup.

Wow, what a wild story! Out of all the things that you go through during a new home and renovation, worrying about your neighbour is not one that is high on the list. Does it happen often? Probably not, but it can happen. 

And I think they handled themselves really well. 

Your property is your property. What you do with it is up to you. As long as you are following the local bylaws then you have nothing to worry about. They hired professionals who knew the local bylaws, they double checked their plans and with the City, and confirmed that they are not in the wrong. 

Then after continued harassment, they contacted the police to handle the issue instead of trying to handle it themselves. And the reason I say ‘trying’ is because you. don’t. want. to. You have enough to worry about, don’t take this on yourself.

Some people have a difficult time with change, but that does not mean that they can bully you or that you have some sort of obligation. This is your property. If you want to remove trees, demolish and rebuild, build up, out or even build a dreadfully awful eyesore, you can. Every homeowner runs the risk of their neighbour doing whatever they want to their property.

Whether that’s zoning change, building heights, aesthetics, or anything in-between, these do affect your neighbours, so consider how your neighbours will accept your project but at the end of the day, if their name isn’t on property title or are paying for the build, then they have no say in the matter.

Thank you so much for writing in and for those listening—- Have you dealt with difficult neighbours when it came to a renovation, new build, or landscaping? I’d love to hear your stories! Join the conversation over on Instagram or Threads.

Thanks so much for listening and we’ll see you next week!