His Old Shed Was Taking A While To Remove And His Neighbor Filed A Complaint With The County, So He Got Rid Of The Shed And Let The Grass Grow Wild In That Part Of His Lawn

Michael Levanduski

4 months ago

Source: Pexels/Nicola Barts

Whenever possible, it is a good idea to do everything you can to stay on good terms with your neighbors.

If you don’t, then you can’t get upset when they do petty things that will bother you for years.

That is what happened in this story after the neighbor lied about an issue in his yard.

Check it out.

Report me for a county ordinance violation? Ok.

Backdrop: Several years ago, I purchased a home in a coastal paradise in hot, humid and mosquito-infested Florida.

The backyard was 2/3 fenced and included a tin shed that served more as a palmetto bug sanctuary than a functioning storage facility.

My next door neighbor, a decrepit old man, (henceforth “X”) also had a 2/3 fenced yard and his swimming pool faced my shed.

One weekend, I felt inspired to tear down the old shed and began stripping the structure down.

No big deal, it can wait.

Due to the age of the shed, the bolts holding everything together were rusted through and impossible to remove without additional tools (aka tin snips).

I apologized to X, but informed him I would finish the work the following weekend, as I work full time during weekdays.

Wow, what a jerk.

By Tuesday, X had contacted the county inspector, who was a friend of his, and lied stating I had left the shed in disrepair for months which violates our local ordinances.

The inspector informed me I needed to remove the structure immediately or I would be subjected to fines.

I responded that X lied about the duration the shed was partially disassembled and also that I would have everything cleared out by the weekend, as I had already informed X about two days prior.

The Revenge: since I was a new-ish homeowner, I hadn’t read up on all the ordinances in my county.

After reviewing the list, I took special note of the lawn care rules which state “grass exceeding 12” on a majority of the property is a violation. Yada, yada, yada.”

And since a “majority” is not defined, it’s a de facto 50.1% of the property.

Very petty, and very funny.

So, to this day, I let the lawn and weeds over grow in the section that is only visible to him from his pool, while the remainder of my lawn remains pristine.

This has been my routine for the past 4 years and will continue until the day he moves or is 6ft under, whichever occurs first.

Final note: he’s on a retiree’s SS budget; so I knew he couldn’t afford to erect a fence between us.

Wow, that really is petty, but I can’t say that I blame him.

Take a look at the comments to see what they think.

Good question!