Neighbor removed my property line pin

[TCBoomer]

To the best of my ability, today I located and ran a string line 6' off the property line. By connecting the dots...so to speak...I was able to determine where the missing pin would land in the corner....not the exact corner point mind you, just the boundary line along his driveway. I checked and rechecked several times and believe I'm within an inch or 2 of where it should be. But that's using a masons line covering 400'+ in length and it's pulled tight enough to play the violin. I used 6' as a reference to clear the existing tree line and then measured back to locate a 3' mark away from the boundary line.

Well...somethings odd for sure. According to my measurements, the tree line at his corner where the pin is missing is exactly on the money. The trees are exactly where I want them...3' off the boundary. As you move away from this corner to the opposite corner, the tree line moves closer to the boundary line. At the corner with the existing mature trees, their 8-9" away from the boundary as I already knew. Going by memory of where the missing pin should be at his corner and sighting the tree line from there, it appears the trees are 3' +/- off the line and that agrees with my measurements. Not sure what to think now and can't quite figure it out. I do know I told my tree guy to follow the existing mature Arb's when he planted the new ones. Even though my measurements show the tree line to be running at an angle, if you sight the line versus my neighbors driveway, everything appears straight. UHH???

No doubt now that I'll be calling the surveyor this week and have her come back and set the corner pin again. Not sure just yet if I should give him the bill and ask to be reimbursed or file in small claims court. Either way he's paying!!

Something else I noticed after looking at different aerial views of the property. His driveway is not straight as an arrow...as i assumed... it veers closer to the boundary line as it approaches the corner point by his house. What this means is all these years when his fence was in place, he had plenty of parking along the blacktop. And it's worth repeating his fence was on my property the entire length by about 6" IIRC. So that leads me to believe he still ~thinks~ he owns a wider area along his driveway than he actually does. And to think the whole point of me doing this is because last spring he asked me to keep the trees trimmed back so he could still have guest parking. Now it appears my trees are not growing across the boundary line at his end.

Make sense? lol I'm doing my best trying to explain. I'll put that aerial view pic back up next post and see if I can edit it with locations

 

[tractchores]

Sounds like when you move the trees a small chain link fence right on the line might be a good way to keep leaves etc off your side. This thread makes me glad that all my property boundaries are in the woods so no one worries or cares about the precise location.

 

[TCBoomer]

Can't draw a straight line using paint to save my life

Instead try this...
point A is on the mark-3' off the line--exactly were it needs to be

point B is located about 28" away from were the existing tree line is on my side of the trees

This imaginary line...that I can't draw... represents where the trees need to be if placed 3' off the boundary line
and it doesn't run parallel to his driveway like I assumed all this time.

 

[TCBoomer]

Sounds like when you move the trees a small chain link fence right on the line might be a good way to keep leaves etc off your side. This thread makes me glad that all my property boundaries are in the woods so no one worries or cares about the precise location.

A chain link fence would be an eye sore and dealing with his leaves is the least of my worries at this point. Annoying yes but not much more.

thankfully this is the only boundary line that involves a PITA neighbor.

 

[TCBoomer]

Sixdogs...

you posted a link to your thread about moving your trees and in the first post you said
"this is a new style shovel I got at Lowe's. Best shovel I ever owned."

but the photo is history. Any chance you remember it and have a picture? Thanks if you do!!

Also wanted to mention I have that book reserved you mentioned earlier. hope to get it from my local library this week. I think now more than ever I NEED to read it!!

 

[TCBoomer]

Well- looking from the air- that is a beautiful job done on the treeline.

after seeing that, I'd recind my previous comments and say leave it as is. A side question- what is the zoning requirement for offset of a driveway or road from the property line? Where I am, it is well more than 15 feet. Is your neigbor compliant with the offset required?

15' setback here as well but evidently it doesn't/can't apply to his driveway and there's another one down the road similar to it. His driveway/property access is only 25' wide total from the farmland boundary to my boundary. It's not an easement or right of way...he owns the entire 25' wide strip. His blacktop is only about 9' wide

 

[TCBoomer]

TCBoomer, don't know, but this might be a consideration. My wife does landscape design, and can import photos, and "place" trees, plants, fences etc in them. The software can then show what the plants will look like when planted(ie 1gal 5gal, 25gal pots). It can also show what the plant will look like at a year, 2 years, etc thru maturity. It will also show that mature size on the standard "blueprint".

Might be worth checking in to this(there are consumer versions) to see just how the trees will grow, and how much setback you need.


Of course, there are books that will give this info too, and your arborist surely knows this information.

Thanks Robert
Fortunately I have about 100 of these Arb's that are mature and according to my tree guy, the 6' base spread they currently have is about max. Knowing that I'm confident planting them 3' off the boundary. If they do expand at the base anymore, I'll keep them trimmed back. I did trim all the new ones this past summer but ran out of time before I got to the mature ones. After I get this current dilemma under control, I'll tackle the big ones.

 

[sixdogs]

I'll take a photo of shovel tomorrow since i can't figure out from the online photos which one it is. It just came to a more pointed end as opposed to a rounded end and made digging in midwest clay a breeze. Photo tomorrow.

The book will help. I had a similar situation as yours and came out OK although it could have gone different directions. While I was not aware of the book at that time it would have made my life easier and probably allowed me to recognize a few things earlier. Your situation seems harmless enough and I think the leaf blower thing is just a way of "saving face" in a losing situation for him. Good bet to ignore it and it will likely go away in time. Confrontation will only escalate when it seems unnecessary at the moment.
Sink the pins deep and deeper. Ask surveyer what to do. Read the book. Rinse and repeat.

On trimming the trees on the neighbor's side, I wouldn't worry about it. Should he be brave enough to actually try to trim, he would be liable for any damage beyond the exact line itself and that usually is enough to deter any attempts. just a guess on my part.

 

[TCBoomer]

Contact the surveyor and ask for his opinon. Perhaps the court house has a record of the survey and if so it may be registered. I would suggest that a more permanent marker be installed, one that is far more difficult to remove. Consider using a post hole digger and a suitable concrete form (circular cardboard tube and bagged concrete are inexpensive). Just dump dry concrete mix into the form and secure the steel pin using wire. Each bag of concrete mix weighs 80 lbs, use your own judgement of what would be permanent. The dry concrete will begin to set as soon as moisture is present. A wide variety of forms is available, some with an expanded base that would be very difficult to remove. Some water added after the steel pin is placed would activate the concrete setting process.

No court house in this rural town, only the town hall. I paid them a visit and no record of my survey being done in 2007. Not really surprised either seeing how all that was done was reset the boundary line pins.

I already spoke with the surveyor and she advised against my placing concrete around the pins. According to her...the pins are located within 1/100 of an inch and placing any concrete might disturb the position. She offered to do it instead but it would involve more $$$.

I'll pass on her offer as I have another idea that would suffice

 

[whistlepig]

There are no court houses around here either but there are county seats. I would think that they would have this survey on record.