Privacy hedge - possibly impeding neighbor's view?

[HouseOfYikes]

TL/DR : we are considering planting a privacy hedge that could potentially cut into a neighbor's view a little. How much should that factor in our decision?

Long version: we live in a hilly neighborhood. Our backyard starts out flat, and then goes up a hill. At the top of the hill is our neighbors backyard. Their fence (the only fence between the two properties) is an open style (like chain link but much nicer). If you stand in their backyard, you can see into our backyard, over our roofline, and a view of hills in the distance.

We want to plant a privacy hedge in our backyard close to the fence line. The purpose is to give us privacy in our yard, but also in our master bedroom. They can basically look down straight into our window (not that they do, they are not creeps!).

This could potentially effect their view - not by much I don't believe. When the hedge reaches the same height as their fence, that should (by our estimation) that will accomplish the goal we have in mind. It will mean they cannot see into our yard, and will probably mean they cannot see over our roofline. It could cut into their view of the hills a little bit, I honestly can't say how much, if at all. We would keep the hedge trimmed to the lowest height needed to give us privacy.

Would this stop you from planting the hedge? I was thinking if we went ahead with the work we could drop off a note letting them know. There may be some noise, they have a dog and a baby, I just thought it would be neighborly. My H thinks that would just invite them to express displeasure with our plans.

WWYD?

[OscarQ]

I'd put in the hedge and wouldn't bother with a heads up. As long as the noise is not too early/late (and you keep to any HOA rules and check that it is on/within your property line*) I don't think anyone needs a heads up. I wouldn't worry about their view either.

*Previous owners of our house installed a fence over our property line on all three sides. Neighbors to left and right did not care, neighbors to rear almost held up closing and had the fence moved as it was a couple inches onto their property line. Inches.

[sju]

I would continue with the plan but I would also want to be a good neighbor and see if there is a height that would give you privacy while letting them keep their view.

[InBetweenDays]

I'd be neighborly and check in with them. Don't ask permission, but maybe tell them you are going to put up a hedge for privacy and wanted to meet with them to see the angle from their yard to see if there is a height that could give you privacy without blocking too much of their view. Maybe if you work with them you could split the cost of pruning since they'd benefit from it as well.

We live on a hill with great view of water/mountains. If we let our trees grow too tall it blocks our neighbors view, so we keep it pruned and they often pay for it. We're about to approach our neighbors on the other side to do the same (they have some trees that are starting to block our view).

[thatgirl2478]

I'd put in the hedge and not worry about it - I would be surprised if your hedges got so tall that they blocked their view.

[HouseOfYikes]

Sept 21, 2016 15:46:09 GMT -5 OscarQ said:

I'd put in the hedge and wouldn't bother with a heads up. As long as the noise is not too early/late (and you keep to any HOA rules and check that it is on/within your property line*) I don't think anyone needs a heads up. I wouldn't worry about their view either.

*Previous owners of our house installed a fence over our property line on all three sides. Neighbors to left and right did not care, neighbors to rear almost held up closing and had the fence moved as it was a couple inches onto their property line. Inches.

Good point! I will dig out the survey just to confirm.

[HouseOfYikes]

Sept 21, 2016 16:32:34 GMT -5 sju said:

I would continue with the plan but I would also want to be a good neighbor and see if there is a height that would give you privacy while letting them keep their view.

We are pretty sure of the height - they just bought about 6 months ago and we went to an open house specifically to scout this out. But we will definitely keep the hedge as low as possible.

[HouseOfYikes]

Sept 21, 2016 16:43:56 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

I'd be neighborly and check in with them. Don't ask permission, but maybe tell them you are going to put up a hedge for privacy and wanted to meet with them to see the angle from their yard to see if there is a height that could give you privacy without blocking too much of their view. Maybe if you work with them you could split the cost of pruning since they'd benefit from it as well.

We live on a hill with great view of water/mountains. If we let our trees grow too tall it blocks our neighbors view, so we keep it pruned and they often pay for it. We're about to approach our neighbors on the other side to do the same (they have some trees that are starting to block our view).

This is a good idea, thanks! We do have some trees that could start to block their view if left unchecked, so maybe we can have a more general conversation and establish some goodwill. They seem perfectly nice and we aren't trying to be jerks, I'd like to start off on the right foot.

[Pibs]

I wouldn't worry too much about it, but I would do what you seem to be doing and try to balance neighborly feelings. Our HOA specifically states that view impingement is not something under HOA jurisdiction and that they cannot and will not do anything about a neighbor's tree blocking another homeowner's view. I would be happy to have someone take care of trees blocking another neighbor's view as long as it wasn't to the detriment of whatever plant was in place, especially if they were willing to help pay.

[HouseOfYikes]

Sept 21, 2016 17:50:04 GMT -5 Pibs said:

I wouldn't worry too much about it, but I would do what you seem to be doing and try to balance neighborly feelings. Our HOA specifically states that view impingement is not something under HOA jurisdiction and that they cannot and will not do anything about a neighbor's tree blocking another homeowner's view. I would be happy to have someone take care of trees blocking another neighbor's view as long as it wasn't to the detriment of whatever plant was in place, especially if they were willing to help pay.

Yeah, no HOA to worry about here! I'm not worried about who pays, I just want to preserve good relationships. They moved in about 8 months after us, so I think we will be neighbors for a while!

[treedimensional]

There's no good reason not to be a good neighbor.
Depending on where you live, blocking a viewshed (anyone's viewshed) can get you sued. Imagine a court ordering you to cut down your landscape plants... yes, it happens.

[munkii]

I'm surprised treedimensional was the only one to bring it up: check out your air rights laws. If you're ok there, do what everyone else said.

[HouseOfYikes]

Sept 22, 2016 6:49:30 GMT -5 munkii said:

I'm surprised treedimensional was the only one to bring it up: check out your air rights laws. If you're ok there, do what everyone else said.

Hmm, all I know about air rights I learned from the movie Burlesque! I will have to look these up.

[TBM]

I kind of agree with your husband, but I probably would still give them a heads up that you are putting in some landscaping, including a privacy hedge at the fence line, but that your intent is to keep it low enough to not block their scenic view.

That way they know your plans and won't be wondering if/assuming your plants will ruin their view and get worked up over it, but it doesn't really give them any reason to interfere with your plans.

[LanaLang]

I'd run it by them, just for relationship purposes. More of a heads up than permission. Growing up, we could see directly into the neighbor's master bedroom in the back of their house (over a 6' cinder block wall) and my oh so shy and proper parents had to tell them they could see *everything* and they might want to invest in some curtains. It would have been much more comfortable had the neighbors done what you are doing without having to hint that unintentional voyeurism may have been been in the mix.

[sallyseastar]

[tillie]

I would talk to them about it first. We just did a huge 9 month renovation that it's pretty large and was very loud. We talked to our abutting neighbors (except for one which DH hates, lol). It really went a long way. Granted we were going to do it anyway, but if they had any major issues we were willing to compromise on certain things. Luckily, they didn't object.