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Thread: 1st sticky situation with neighbor

  1. #11
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Williamsmith View Post
    I scanned the Shoreline Protection Act PDF and I’m not at all sure that the activity you described isn’t exempt so if it were me I’d be careful not to confront him. For instance, could this area be described as existing lawn needing to be maintained? Prior to this act being placed into law, was this common area lawn all the way down to the shoreline. If it was, the way I read it, an exemption exists because that’s the way it was before the law ever came into existence. Are there any noxious weeds, invasive species, nuisance plants, or diseased trees anywhere in his target zone?
    Is this the one you looked at? http://dec.vermont.gov/sites/dec/fil...ry_2272017.pdf

    I do not believe there are any of those types of plants/trees in the target area, but I can't be sure. I'm pretty sure he just wants rid of them. DH says he wants to put a beach in, which won't work because the lake rises almost up to our houses in the spring. (Another reason to maintain a vegetative buffer.)
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  2. #12
    Senior Member razz's Avatar
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    There are several different issues going on, IMO.
    !. Is he changing the shared shoreline without consultation?
    2. Has the current shoreline existed this way as part of a buffer plan developed over years of experience?
    3. Has he full understanding of the options that are fully possible and which are not or at least no beneficial?
    4. Does he know how much he doesn't know of the consequences of his actions on all the properties?

    I think that you need some guidance from a knowledgeable third party if that is possible.
    As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

  3. #13
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Many good points raised here and I suspect the law should take hold.

    Failing that, a suggestion for a compromise: if your neighbor can identify specific invasive/noxious plants, how about pulling those and replacing them with native plants agreeable to you?
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  4. #14
    Williamsmith
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    Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
    Is this the one you looked at? http://dec.vermont.gov/sites/dec/fil...ry_2272017.pdf

    I do not believe there are any of those types of plants/trees in the target area, but I can't be sure. I'm pretty sure he just wants rid of them. DH says he wants to put a beach in, which won't work because the lake rises almost up to our houses in the spring. (Another reason to maintain a vegetative buffer.)
    Yes.

    I think the only way to know if he is in violation of a law....is to consult the DEC. And if you get them involved, I’m pretty sure you will not endear yourself to the neighbors. I don’t think you are going to negotiate anything with your neighbor. You are a newbie.....from Jersey. And finally, are you sure there aren’t any technical violations of any other law that you or your house is in? It can stink to be in the barrel next.

  5. #15
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Williamsmith View Post
    Yes.

    And if you get them involved, I’m pretty sure you will not endear yourself to the neighbors. I don’t think you are going to negotiate anything with your neighbor. You are a newbie.....from Jersey.
    Yeah, there's the rub. DH is petrified of my bringing this up. My kids have already told us multiple times that our twin set of NJ plates are putting a target on our backs up here as it is. Then, to come in like know-it-all flatlanders and presume to know better than our neighbors will be social suicide. DH has said that if I insist on talking to our neighbor, he will do it--DH is an "Everyman" who gets along with everyone.

    We'll see what happens.
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  6. #16
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    I will bet you DH will finesse that situation as best can be done.

    Edited, I did t read what the neighbor was trying to achieve.

  7. #17
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by razz View Post
    There are several different issues going on, IMO.
    !. Is he changing the shared shoreline without consultation? He did ask me, kind of, after he had started it (i.e., tear out tree)
    2. Has the current shoreline existed this way as part of a buffer plan developed over years of experience? I don't know. Not to my knowledge
    3. Has he full understanding of the options that are fully possible and which are not or at least no beneficial? Not yet--this is where my "education" would come in
    4. Does he know how much he doesn't know of the consequences of his actions on all the properties? No

    I think that you need some guidance from a knowledgeable third party if that is possible.
    I may just approach it like, "Let's work on this together--check into possibilities as well as local restrictions, we can plan an area that can be used for recreation and plan an area that can be cultivated. And get the other neighbors involved with their thoughts and opinions" (There are 10 neighbor/landowners--this shouldn't be just between him and me.)
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by catherine View Post
    I may just approach it like, "Let's work on this together--check into possibilities as well as local restrictions, we can plan an area that can be used for recreation and plan an area that can be cultivated. And get the other neighbors involved with their thoughts and opinions" (There are 10 neighbor/landowners--this shouldn't be just between him and me.)
    Great ideas--my husband said why not have them over for dinner to talk about it, and I said, well, there's more involved, the neighbors, so maybe have a barbecue for everyone to talk about how to handle the shore issue.

    But then I thought, boy, that could be one unpleasant barbecue--I am not good at confrontation and conflict, either.

    But you have to get the other people involved too, as it is not just you and him.
    I just don't know quite how to do that, and wonder if he has approached other neighbors, too.

  9. #19
    Williamsmith
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    I’m looking forward to the updates on this. I know I’ve seen several movies with a similar plot. Well meaning newcomer with different ideas tries to “educate” the locals.

  10. #20
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    And what's the last scene in that movie? Newcomers high-tailing it back home with Prius trunk stuffed with their belongings happy to get back to their permaculture meet-ups in NJ, or the local sheriff wondering about the strange smell of rotting flesh coming from the bottom of the incinerated pile of brush?
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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