I bought a hillside property in Armonk, NY two years ago on a dead end street. The whole street-front of my property was two-thirds asphalt and one-third wild grass at the end. The neighbor across from my house recently started to fill up the street with dirt to make it level with his property (both properties are sloping to the street).
He built up not just the grassy part, but also approximately half of the asphalt part, altogether 2/3 of the street (about 200 sq. feet in front of my property, using about 20 cubic yards of dirt). Then he put soil and grass on it. Now he maintains the filled up street he took and his own property together.
Before this construction started I had a view of the street, down on the slope, and now I am looking at the neighbor’s backyard. His house is on the far side of his property and he made his own backyard bigger by annexing public property.
I think he made his property more valuable and mine less.
I went to complain to the Highway Department, but they did not stop his alteration of the public street.
What were my legal rights before and what are they now?
Does the Highway Department have the right to let him do this without asking my consent?
He built up not just the grassy part, but also approximately half of the asphalt part, altogether 2/3 of the street (about 200 sq. feet in front of my property, using about 20 cubic yards of dirt). Then he put soil and grass on it. Now he maintains the filled up street he took and his own property together.
Before this construction started I had a view of the street, down on the slope, and now I am looking at the neighbor’s backyard. His house is on the far side of his property and he made his own backyard bigger by annexing public property.
I think he made his property more valuable and mine less.
I went to complain to the Highway Department, but they did not stop his alteration of the public street.
What were my legal rights before and what are they now?
Does the Highway Department have the right to let him do this without asking my consent?
