I was putting up the fence, its three feet inside the property line because of the 30 year old roots on that arbors. Ironically I could have just waited for them to kill the bushes and moved my fence back three feet.

You might want to call your councilman/alderman or alternative someone in said position who is a woman. You could also bitch out the planning committee.

dstoneburg said:Update, today they decided to mark the giant ditch in my yard with some fence stakes and orange plastic mesh fencing, woo.

Keep the updates going, maybe switch to hourly. Have you set up a twitter account yet? Let me know, I'll follow it.

BINGO...
we are upset when the city does not do their work in maintaining the intrastructure, we get upset if they make a mess while they do...it is a no win situation.
Granted it is a mess, granted they could have done a better job at the public relation angle with the homeowners. I think the trees will grow back, i think the grass will be green again and thank god we will still be able to use the toiled (indoors no less)...
I would (without shark lawyers help) contact them - borrow your neighbors letter and scan for a tel number -and ask questions without an attitude and see what happens. You might be surprised.
Good luck to you. I know it is not a simple matter from the homeowners view.

I think when anything is on or beyond the property line (fences, trees, bushes, etc.) you are taking your chances with the other party. You can build or plant anything on the property line and nothing may ever happen for 20 or 40 years but if the other party chooses at any time they can enforce their rights. My neighbor decided he didn't want the tree that was on my property hanging over his property so he used his right to trim the overhang. My right was to live with a trunk and half a tree or remove it. Another instance the utility company told me about a gas leak on my property dug a trench from the street to my house removing all of the bushes along the way. They made half of an attempt to move some of the dirt back into the hole. They handed me a bill and said landscaping was up to me. I think you and your neighbors can consider yourselves lucky to have had no problems up to now and hope they don't charge you to hook back up to the sewer. My friend was notified they were doing the sewer in his neighborhood and his portion was $2,000.00. Sorry about your yard but it is tough to fight City Hall.

izachpsk8 said:I think when anything is on or beyond the property line (fences, trees, bushes, etc.) you are taking your chances with the other party. You can build or plant anything on the property line and nothing may ever happen for 20 or 40 years but if the other party chooses at any time they can enforce their rights. My neighbor decided he didn't want the tree that was on my property hanging over his property so he used his right to trim the overhang. My right was to live with a trunk and half a tree or remove it. Another instance the utility company told me about a gas leak on my property dug a trench from the street to my house removing all of the bushes along the way. They made half of an attempt to move some of the dirt back into the hole. They handed me a bill and said landscaping was up to me. I think you and your neighbors can consider yourselves lucky to have had no problems up to now and hope they don't charge you to hook back up to the sewer. My friend was notified they were doing the sewer in his neighborhood and his portion was $2,000.00. Sorry about your yard but it is tough to fight City Hall.

Thats crazy they would bill him unless they replaced his personal line. He already paid to replace the community pipe via taxes.

dstoneburg said:They just stopped by to inform us that we cannot use the showers/bathrooms or sinks from now until 9:00am to 5:00pm. The notification was them cutting the line off, no news beforehand.Time to sue!!!

You know this is a good opportunity to get rid of any old and rusting cars in the neighborhood.

xoneinax said:OP, use the trench when you need to take a dump during the night.Or take a dump in the house, and flush, from 9am-5pm.

Ive had a similar situation. In fact, worse to an extent. I have an easement
in the backyard just like yours. I had Orange trees and Palms. Of course, all
got ripped down while replacing overhead lines to underground. I was upset
while it was happening. The worst was when a crane ripped down a power line
causing a huge power spike that killed my air conditioner. That was the final
straw.

I wrote every county commissioner, im in an unincorporated area, as well as
the city that offers our water and such. I simply stated facts without
emotion and explained the damage.

I got a check from the contractor for the air conditioner repair within days. The
contractor also replaced the palm tree and the orange tree at the end of the job.

I even got a personal visit from my specific commissioner making sure I was happy.

I dont think they are in the business to upset you, in fact, they may not even know
what the contractor has or is doing.

I suggest communicating with the city officials in a proper, professional manner.

By the way, Im sure there were meetings regarding this situation long before it occurred.
As another suggestion, get involved in the community and attend city councils. You would
have a chance to voice your opinion and this whole situation could have been avoided.