Home Remodeling Ethics
Okay, so there is a situation that has arisen between two neighbors of mine that live across the street. No, it's not about dog poop this time. The family living in the house across the street is in the middle of adding a second story to their house. They've got two boys just entering their teens, so it makes sense that they'd need to add some room to their moderately sized single story to accommodate the boys. It's actually only half a second story since they are building the new addition solely on the eastern half of their home, leaving the remainder of their house in its single story state.
Now, the issue is that the neighbor on the east side of the house is very unhappy about the addition because once the sun hits its zenith, from there on out until it sets, she's getting screwed on natural light. The new addition towers over her and casts a shadow onto her skylights and windows. The mother living in the remodeled house feels bad, and the neighbor is apparently airing her displeasure with other neighbors. She was informed of the remodel beforehand, but I don't think she knew the extent to which this would impact her.
My question is... whose side do you fall on? What are the ramifications here? The addition has full permits from the city, so it's not like there are legal grounds to stand on from what I can see. However, doesn't the impacted neighbor have a certain reasonable expectation of being able to enjoy the same overall natural lighting and view the house afforded when she bought it?
posted by Chris at
5:35 PM
11 Comments:
I don't think you should be allowed to add a second story to a single-story home in a neighborhood setting. You want to add an extra room out back where no one can really see it, fine. But I think the classic American way is: You need more space, you move to a bigger house.
I tend to agree with that, Jack. I'm sure there are some exceptions to the rule, but in our neighborhood the views of the lake and the sun setting behind the surrounding hills are two major selling points. So if you lose either of those, you're losing quite a bit. I will say that the people who are doing the addition are genuinely nice, and they went through hell to actually get the thing permitted by the city. I wonder why the city doesn't take the impact on neighboring houses into consideration? Maybe they did, and the residential building code simply allows it.
It's a whole separate post, but in general LA building codes and zoning are completely arcane. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to most of it.
The woman in the impacted house should take photographs of the people doing the remodeling and tape the photographs to the side of her home!
Garrison Keillor sued his next door neighbor over this very thing last month, and got a massive amount of negative PR for it. Our country is not ready to protect sun-angle rights.
It seems his suit was resolved:
http://wcco.com/local/keillor.lawsuit.agreement.2.635561.html
Doesn't NYC have open air space rights above lower buildings?
Okay, but what if you suffer from S.A.D. - Seasonal Affective Disorder? And what if light therapy was your only effective means of battling the disease? I think the sudden blockage of your medicinal rays would at least give you grounds to sue for the cost of a light therapy box and an mp3 of George Harrison's "Here Comes The Sun."
Bernie,
I think you're right about that, but if this blogger is correct those rights can be manipulated and seemingly sold like stock to the highest bidder. Transferrable "air rights"... what will they think of next... "Right To Exist In Time & Space" laws?
http://newyorkdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2007/12/air-rights.html
Also, for anyone who's SAD...
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/MH00023
This is extremely common in L.A., especially in the valley, where most of the houses are simple one story tract homes. Neighbors get upset, but the property owner has the right to build up if he wishes. And the option of moving to a bigger house isn't such a good one here, as property is extremely expensive, and it's almost always cheaper to add on.
Why, it's Mr. Scott Buck! I am happy to see your name here on the thread, sir. Okay. That's it. I have no more to say.
People in Guam build one story homes and leave rebar sticking out of the top "just in case".
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