I would hate to be caught in the middle of a neighborhood war. But it helps that I'm not the homeowner.
My neighbors to the west have had a silent war of words & actions for decades now, mostly over an overgrown tree that reaches onto their property and fools with the electrical overhead lines. In spite of DTE Energy's aggressive tree-trimming program for their wires (which turn trees into mushrooms), they have somehow ignored this tree's lingering branches.
Two years ago, when our power went on & off for awhile, I found a small windstorm was causing the tree to arc the wires, causing a potential fire hazard. After calling DTE, they trimmed back some of the branches. Despite there being no problems, the neighbors keep calling for the tree to be trimmed. It's logical, given the tree trunk is right on the easement line. But the property owner wants nothing to do with it.
As I was trimming around the yard earlier today, that property owner walked up to me and began complaining that my raised garden area was popping out his area of the chain-link fence. It certainly is, and it is due to faulty foundations in the rear. I don't think it's my responsibility to fix, but I will notify the landlord about it.
Then the property owner (Mr. Watts) stated he wants to build a vinyl fence around his property, which is a triple-lot. And he wants the neighbors surrounding his property line, despite what they may think, to combine and pay for half of the fence. He actually expects my landlord to automatically fork over the money, and shrugged his shoulders at my neighbors to the west, implying that they don't care enough to contribute.
Ah, if I was the owner here, I wouldn't want to contribute either. I'm not the one who wants to stare at a vinyl fence or have workers barging around my garden area, trampling everything over so they can dig their post holes. They would be tearing apart my (and the landlord's) yard for someone else's project, and we would have to pay for the trampling and inconvenience?
I've not had experience with such requests before regarding shared fencing. My dad and neighbor at the time were going to construct a back fence covering two of their lots, until my dad went for the slightly more expensive fence, rather than do-it-himself. He paid for it all on his own. He didn't ask for a cooperative effort.
I see no benefits of a vinyl fence. I was going to touch up the chain-link with some paint this summer... but that would have been my project. What would Mr. Watts have said if I told him, "you owe me half for this fence paint"? How long would it take him to stop laughing?
Combine Mr. Watts with Mr. Poole two doors down, and my neighbors have reason to shake their heads at the neighborhood. I was just hoping their friendly neighbor to the east (meaning yours truly) wouldn't have to join the war brigade, and drag the landlord into it as well.
Time will tell. Apparently there's a limit to the "good neighbor" theory, the fallout of which I would rather not see.
