Quote:
Originally Posted by Ozzello
I spent several years wintering here before I bought our home in TV. A major selling point for my wife and I, was the beautiful palms so many people had as part of the landscaping.
Even when purchasing our new home, the salesman assured me, that though I can't get that palm in my front yard, I could replace the ugly tree there with a palm after I closed, as so many other residents have . It seemed obvious the way it was done here.
Now, the AOC tells me I have to remove that palm I waited so long, and paid so much for.
Why? Because someone complained.
Special easement? No. But everyone , yes EVERYONE on my street has a palm in this same location?
Well, no one complained about them. "So , it isn't a problem big enough to do anything about, unless someone complains?" That is how complaint driven works.
This is where I started driving around, looking at how many homes were out of compliance. There are MORE OUT of compliance than IN!! Yep, I just got lucky and had this jerk down the street that doesn't have anything better to do, than police ME.. Why not the house RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM ME???
How far from the street do I need to move this tree? Not inside 15.5' ..... and if I put the lovely landscape wall around the tree at a healthy distance, the wall must be 16.5' from our little side street curb, moving the tree to 21'. the sylvester has a 12' frond spanning back 14' from the required setback and would now touch my house.
I guess the big screwing came from the sales team. Anyone want to buy a house.. with no palm tree, and a real jerk living a couple doors down with nothing better to do than stick his nose in your business?
|
I appreciate the feelings you have but think you should step back and cool down and think it through.
Setbacks are there for a reason and non compliance by others is not a license to do the same.
Like you, I wanted Palm Trees in my new yard 14 years ago. (I am from the north). The image was great at the time. That 12' frond umbrella didn't stop at 12'. Mine is now over 20' and some around here are larger yet. Palm trees are extremely messy and require maintenance, a lot of maintenance. Frond removal, seed pod removal, diamond cuts on removed fronds etc. Perhaps do it yourself for a while with loppers, handsaws, stepladder, extended saws, and then 24 foot extended saws, extension ladders, chainsaws, and did I mention a lot of Band-Aids. At some point as the tree grows older as you also will, you need to hire someone to maintain at $100 per tree perhaps twice a year or pay to have the monster removed along with the stump for $350 or so. I paid to get rid of two Palms that grew so large that they infringed with the roof. Some neighbors found that their Palms became a thruway for Palm Rats to gain easy access to their attics. And bees love the ripening seeds coming out of the seed pods .
I wish some "jerk" had ratted on me. Palm trees belong on beaches or byways for you to view. Enjoy the sight of your neighbors trees which can be seen from your house. After all, you really can't enjoy the sight of yours because they are blocking your windows. When you are outside looking at them, you are looking up and noticing the brown fronds that need to be trimmed. Put Sylvester in the back yard or somewhere you can view from afar. You will save a lot of money.
Buy the "jerk" a Mai Tai.