Ananisapta
Junior Member
Is there anything in NC case law (or elsewhere) that would support my cutting down some of my trees when the homeowners' association board won't act on a written application to do so?
We retired to a beautiful part of North Carolina, with a potentially breathtaking view of the Blue Ridge mountains. Unfortunately, nobody ever pruned or thinned the woods around our home, so they are full of crowded, deformed hardwoods, a few of which (out of the four wooded acres we own) are smack in the middle of the view. A local realty expert has advised us to remove those trees to improve our property value. Due to health issues, we may have to sell in the next year or two, though we hope to continue enjoying our view a bit longer.
Unfortunately, our homeowners' association has been taken over by some fairly backwards folks who enjoy saying 'NO' to anything their neighbors want to do. They are legally vulnerable in that they often don't follow their own charter nor applicable NC laws. One hates to fuss too much with neighbors, especially those who lack good verbal skills, have never managed a business, and have no clue what they're doing. But....
On December 2, I mailed a written request for permission to cut down six trees, mostly large, all blocking the view, some of which appear dangerous because they're leaners, most of them rather poorly formed and unattractive. As in the past, a few vocal individuals have responded with inappropriate suggestions about lopping off branches (giving an unattractive 'bare poles' look and not alleviating the visual clutter above the horizon) and topping (which is universally abhorant to the experts). In past cases like this, I've been able to get the full board to side with me, but this time I've had no decision after more than four weeks, not even a preliminary one. What I have had are some patronizing remarks and inappropriate suggestions from the board chair, who seems to be acting out some sort of capricious, malicious, spiteful game with me. She's very good at it.
An election for new board members is coming up, and I hope they'll have had enough of this particular woman. Unfortunately, her husband volunteers a lot of time to the community and has amassed enough proxy votes from absentee owners (as certified by his wife when she was secretary with no other member involved in the certification) that this one family has essential ownership of the association (which I helped start more than a decade ago). I could go on at length about the various examples of malfeasance recently, but I'm looking for concrete advice about remedies.
The long-range remedy is to get an expensive plan from a state-licensed landscape architect that I can then (expensively) get approved by the county board of supervisors to make sure I'm not creating an erosion hazard. In the meanwhile, I could wait for the new board to take their seats and raise the issue again, but we're running into nature's own deadline when the sap starts to rise in March and makes the job more expensive.
I've not found anything in the association's foundation documents nor in NC 47f that gives any sort of time deadline for this process, so I'm wondering if there's anything in case law that would support my going ahead with limited tree cutting after an unreasonable delay in getting the permit approved.
We retired to a beautiful part of North Carolina, with a potentially breathtaking view of the Blue Ridge mountains. Unfortunately, nobody ever pruned or thinned the woods around our home, so they are full of crowded, deformed hardwoods, a few of which (out of the four wooded acres we own) are smack in the middle of the view. A local realty expert has advised us to remove those trees to improve our property value. Due to health issues, we may have to sell in the next year or two, though we hope to continue enjoying our view a bit longer.
Unfortunately, our homeowners' association has been taken over by some fairly backwards folks who enjoy saying 'NO' to anything their neighbors want to do. They are legally vulnerable in that they often don't follow their own charter nor applicable NC laws. One hates to fuss too much with neighbors, especially those who lack good verbal skills, have never managed a business, and have no clue what they're doing. But....
On December 2, I mailed a written request for permission to cut down six trees, mostly large, all blocking the view, some of which appear dangerous because they're leaners, most of them rather poorly formed and unattractive. As in the past, a few vocal individuals have responded with inappropriate suggestions about lopping off branches (giving an unattractive 'bare poles' look and not alleviating the visual clutter above the horizon) and topping (which is universally abhorant to the experts). In past cases like this, I've been able to get the full board to side with me, but this time I've had no decision after more than four weeks, not even a preliminary one. What I have had are some patronizing remarks and inappropriate suggestions from the board chair, who seems to be acting out some sort of capricious, malicious, spiteful game with me. She's very good at it.
An election for new board members is coming up, and I hope they'll have had enough of this particular woman. Unfortunately, her husband volunteers a lot of time to the community and has amassed enough proxy votes from absentee owners (as certified by his wife when she was secretary with no other member involved in the certification) that this one family has essential ownership of the association (which I helped start more than a decade ago). I could go on at length about the various examples of malfeasance recently, but I'm looking for concrete advice about remedies.
The long-range remedy is to get an expensive plan from a state-licensed landscape architect that I can then (expensively) get approved by the county board of supervisors to make sure I'm not creating an erosion hazard. In the meanwhile, I could wait for the new board to take their seats and raise the issue again, but we're running into nature's own deadline when the sap starts to rise in March and makes the job more expensive.
I've not found anything in the association's foundation documents nor in NC 47f that gives any sort of time deadline for this process, so I'm wondering if there's anything in case law that would support my going ahead with limited tree cutting after an unreasonable delay in getting the permit approved.
