That’s not right.
Now THAT’S a view!
Frank planted you the spring we bought this place.
Only the ones in their way.
That’s not trimming. That’s cutting a window.
Joan! I heard saws this morning, ten o’clock or so. Went on near an hour. I figured you finally hired somebody to thin ’em out, so I didn’t— Oh, Lord.
I didn’t hire anybody, Gus.
That’s Russell Thorne’s deck up there. Fella who runs the homeowners’ board.
I know whose deck it is.
You want me to call somebody? The sheriff?
In a minute. First, let’s see who came calling.
Forty minutes. Didn’t knock. Didn’t even look at the house.
They didn’t need to look. They knew nobody was home.
You gonna call it in?
I am.
Mrs. Hartley, if those trees are on your property, this is criminal mischief. Trespassing, too.
They’re on my property.
Anybody you know who’d want those trees gone?
Anybody up that hill with a deck, I’d guess.
Then I’ll run that plate first thing. That’s your case number. Don’t lose it.
I don’t lose paper, Deputy. Ever.
They came on a Tuesday.
So?
Every Tuesday I’m down at the county office till five. Six years now.
How would they know that?
Truck’s registered to Ridgeline Tree Service. I talked to the owner. He says Larkspur Ridge HOA booked the job. They told him that strip was HOA common area.
Common area. There’s no common area on my side of that path, Deputy.
That’s what I’m working on, ma’am. I’ll be in touch.
The story isn’t over yet. Type “LOVE,” and I’ll post the rest.
Part 2:
Good morning! How can I help you?
I live at the bottom of the hill.
Of course. Mrs. Hartley. Please, come on back.
First, I just want to say, we completely understand how you’re feeling.
Do you.
Sightlines. It seems there’s been some misunderstanding about the boundary vegetation. A few of our residents had raised concerns about their sightlines.
Their sightlines. Across my yard. Who called that tree company, Ms. Moore?
I’m afraid I can’t discuss internal association matters.
The association would like to compensate you for the trimming. Twelve hundred dollars.
You had that ready.
We like to be prepared.
“Endorsement constitutes full and final settlement of all claims.” I recorded deeds for thirty years, Ms. Moore. I know a full-settlement check when I see one.
How old do you think those cedars are?
I… honestly couldn’t say.
Forty-one years. My husband planted every one of them by hand. So you tell me. How many years does it take to grow back a little privacy?
So… can I let everyone know we’ve resolved this?
I’ll hold on to it.
It’s me, it’s me. She took it, Russell.
No. She won’t cash it.
Because she read the back.
Here’s their gravel path. My line runs up here, above the trees. Every one of those trees is mine.
Then what was this check for?
For me to sign away my claim.
Joan. What’s that flashing on those poles?
Cameras. Three of ’em. Little sign says “Perimeter Security.”
Pointed at the path?
No, Joanie. That one’s on your bedroom window. That one’s on the back porch, where you read on Sundays. And that one’s on your back door.
Last summer they sent me a letter. “For the benefit of community views,” would I kindly cut back my trees. I wrote back no.
I never once saw them. They saw me fine.
A year? They’ve been watching you a year?
That’s how they knew about Tuesdays.
I hear you, Mrs. Hartley. But if those poles are on HOA land, I can’t touch them. Not without a court order.
I understand. Thank you, Deputy.
The trees were just the start, Gus. They’ve been treating this yard like it’s theirs.
Frank would’ve been up that hill with a shovel by now.
I know. That’s why I’m doing it on paper.
So get a lawyer. Sue ’em.
A lawyer takes months. Those cameras are watching me tonight. First I need to know exactly where that line is.
I’m calling Hank Dolan. He surveyed half this county when I was at the recorder’s office.
All day on it, Joan, twice over. Your line runs right along the edge of their gravel. Your side of the edge. Those camera poles sit one foot inside it. Their side.
And your trees are twenty-two to thirty-eight feet off the line.
So much for their common area.
Their common area is that gravel path. Their crew drove right off the edge of it.
Joan, the folks up there are gonna hate me.
Why’s that?
Eight feet. ‘Cause you can put a fence tight to that line, on your side. County lets you go eight feet with a permit. This camera sits at seven.
So eight feet would put it a foot over the lens.
A foot over every one of ’em.
Then that’s what I’ll build.
Joanie, they’re gonna see it from every deck on that hill.
Good.
Larkspur Ridge HOA… Ridgeline Tree Service… three homeowners up on the Ridge… and an insurance company?
They’ll want to know what their client did.
Willful cutting of fourteen trees… damages up to three times their value… cameras recording into a private home.
Your lawyer doesn’t mess around.
I wrote the first draft.
Topped cedars don’t grow back, ma’am. Not like they were. Every one of these has to be replaced. Whole.
Hi, Mrs. Hartley, this is your neighbor from up on the Ridge? I’m sure this is all just a big misunderstanding. Let’s work it out like neighbors, okay?
Funny. Nobody was real neighborly while the saws were going.
“We acted on the association’s written authorization. Work order attached.”
“Authorized by: Russell Thorne.” Signed. And right under it, checked off: “Approved by the board.”
That’s it. Call those people right now. Rub their noses in it.
Not yet. I want the whole board in the room.
Eight feet, right on the line, your side. Permit’s on the dash. We’ll have it closed up by sundown, Mrs. Hartley.
Thank you.
A whole year they’ve been watching you off those poles. Let’s see how they like the show now.
Mrs. Hartley. Russell Thorne. I don’t think we’ve ever properly met.
You toasted me from your deck while my trees were still lying in the grass. I’d say that counts.
Look. This is… a lot. You know what a wall like this does to property values up here?
About what a chainsaw does to mine.
Frankly, it’s an eyesore. And for what? It doesn’t even block my deck. You’re throwing money away.
It was never meant for your deck, Mr. Thorne. It’s for your cameras.
Your deck’s going to look at my trees again. Just as soon as you pay to put them back.
Those cameras are for community security. And the HOA has lawyers too, you know. Our covenants have very clear rules about fences.
Your covenants stop at this line. I’m not in your HOA. And cameras that protect a community point at the community. Not at a widow’s bedroom window.
Last one?
Last one.
Five thousand. A goodwill gesture. Let’s put this whole thing behind us.
You already tried that once.
Replacement value, a hundred twenty-six thousand four hundred. And when the cutting is willful, a judge can triple that.
And this is what makes it willful.
The board never voted on this, Russell. Those are my minutes. My name’s on them. It never came up. Not once.
And the insurance company wrote back this morning. Willful cutting isn’t covered. This lands on whoever signed it.
What do you want?
The biggest full-grown cedars that’ll fit on a truck, planted back in that gap. Every camera pointed at my house, gone. An apology, signed by you. And my survey and lawyer’s fees.
And the fence stays.
And the sheriff?
That’s between you and the sheriff.
Mrs. Hartley? Ridgeline Tree. Larkspur Ridge is paying us to put your trees back. We got your lawyer’s letter too, ma’am. Boss didn’t want to wait for a judge.
Ma’am… the day before, Mr. Thorne walked that path with us himself. Told us your line was up by your house.
And nobody knocked to ask me. I watched it all, ten-oh-seven to ten forty-seven.
Go on around back. Do it right this time.
Same truck. Front door this time.
That from him?
“I authorized the cutting of Mrs. Hartley’s trees on her land, and I pointed those cameras at her home. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
Heard the news up the hill? Thorne stepped down off the board. And they’re making him pay the association back. Every dime. Out of his own pocket.
They paid Hank and my lawyer, too. In full.
I should’ve walked over that morning. I heard those saws, and I just… figured.
You’d have walked into two chainsaws, Gus. You came when it counted.
You know, most folks would’ve cashed that check.
That check wanted to buy forty-one years for twelve hundred dollars. And my right to sue them, thrown in for free.
Thirty years of reading the fine print, Gus.
There. That’s right.
