What Shold I do about the Old Lady Next Door Trespassing & Damaging my Property?

[RWebb]

I have mostly very nice neighbors, but one is bad. They have an illegal street light mounted on an (also illegal) outbuilding and have refused to turn it off or to allow me to pay for someone to put a hood on it. The City refuses to enforce the code violation.

So, I built some planters and put bamboo in them to block the worst of the light. I keep the bamboo trimmed so it does go over onto their property.

But, the nasty old witch (often called something else that rhymes with that by many around here) reaches over the fence and grabs the bamboo stems and breaks them off.

A law suit is not cost-effective even w/o having to pay a lawyer, and neither is a surveillance camera really tho I have thought of that...

I have also thought of spray painting this woman baby poo yellow and having god turn here into (stone) -- a concrete fence or lawn ornament, really...

[Danimal16]

Coat the bamboo shoots with ground up habanero in water. It will get her attention when she touches it. At the area on top of the fence coat it with grease. You can also mix in some ground up habenaro's in the grease as well.

[Geoz1]

Maybe you should move.

[slakjaw]

Was going to say plant stinging metal but the hab sounds even better.

[slakjaw]

My mom used to have a bad neighbor that would tape threatening notes to her door. I made a trip back to Nebraska one time and I sat on the back porch cleaning my shotgun for a couple of hours. She never received another note.

[look 171]

I don't understand how they wouldn't deal with the illegal addition and the light. Go up the ladder and make sure the big cheese sitting behind the desk earning the big bucks is involve. Make sure all that stuff is illegal first. It just might have a permit, you never know. Sorry to hear about problem. Crazy old ladies are difficult to deal with.

[porsche4life]

BB gun, and for some reason that bulb keeps getting broken....

[recycled sixtie]

It gives new meaning to shoot the lites out. BB gun as
suggested above?! Poisonous snakes. Threaten with a lawsuit? It does irritate me when they have byelaws but they are not enforced. Happens all the time. If you move as suggested above then u have new neighbors with a new set of problems.

[GWN7]

She have surveillance camera's?

If no, climb fence and hit bulb and fixture with a 2 x 4. Make sure she has to replace the fixture.

Let her *****.

[MRM]

Five items needed:

1) Large masonry fence;

2) Mucho baby-poo yellow paint;

3) Uber Good Night vision goggles;

4) Night-time patrols by Mr. Snuggles;

5) Fire support provided from home base via said Über Great Nightime goggles, night vision scope, and variety of .30 to .308 heavy weaponry.

[gshase]

Some kid with a stick or spray cold water on the light bulb.

[Erakad]

Build a bigger fence or -

She have surveillance camera's?

If no, climb fence and hit bulb and fixture with a 2 x 4. Make sure she has to replace the fixture.

Let her *****.
____________

[rusnak]

Build a bamboo Viet-Cong style booby trap with poison spikes.

Or use a .22 cal longrifle.

[pharlap71]

install pole on your side mount "illegal" highest wattage flood light you can find and aim it at her window, door, etc. When they make you comply.......................bingo

[EarlyPorsche]

Don't do anything and carry on? Its just a light.

[DARISC]

One of those model electric RC choppers w/camera and some sort of single shot BB setup to shoot out the light (a simple rubber band w/RC triggered release?) would be fun.

[Jim Richards]

Send the city building dept a written compliant. Then escalate within the system until they take enforcement action.

Don't play games. The other party is willing to risk more.

[cashflyer]

Sneak into her house one night and hack her up with a machete.
Turn the light off on your way back home.

[RWebb]

I sent written complaints long ago re the illegal street light. I escalated. The City is simply not going to enforce it, and I cannot force them to do so. I specialize in a related area of law, so...

A larger fence would violate code. She complains all the time - and has had several neighbors sanctioned for things like parking on the street too long (in her "special spot" that she does not use); she filed 3 different complaints against me for adding a 2nd driveway (of course, my driveway sits there proud and happy).

I could perhaps get a variance for a taller fence or for barbed wire, but it would be very tiresome to do that.

The habenero spray sounds like fun - anyone know of a commercial source?

[RWebb]

Oh BTW - that street light used to fail regularly. I guess it was some local kid using a pellet gun from what used to be a vacant lot next to their outbuilding, or maybe from the park across the alley from it. I saw her somewhat less obnoxious husband up there on a ladder several times changing it out.

But maybe he put in something armored as it has not gone out in the last few years.