Vandalized Tree

[xpatUSA]

In Texas, purchased property has a strip inside it's boundary called an 'Easement'. This is where Utility Companies like electric, water, sewage, etc. can get on your Property and do whatever they like with it!

So it is that the San Bernard Electrical Cooperative took it upon themselves to prune this majestic Eastern Red Cedar all the way to the top, to the great irritation of my neighbor across the street:



Sigma DP2 compact 4.7MP 41mm equiv, hand-held.

[Shadowman]

Do we really own anything, in most cities homeowners don't own the sidewalks in front of their home but are expected to maintain the walkway, also even though they own the lawn they aren't permitted to park their vehicles on it; not that you'd necessarily want to.

[xpatUSA]

Do we really own anything, in most cities homeowners don't own the sidewalks in front of their home but are expected to maintain the walkway, also even though they own the lawn they aren't permitted to park their vehicles on it; not that you'd necessarily want to.

Ah, yes, the good old Home-Owner's Association ... I remember it well.

Fortunately, I moved to a rural area where there's no such thing and I let my grass grow if I want and I park my vehicles wherever I want also.

[rpcrowe]

It is a shame about the tree but, we have had some virulent fires caused by trees shorting out overhead electric transmission cables during our Santa Ana winds in the Fall months. However, my local power company does a less draconian job in clearing the trees from the power lines.

Strange real estate laws:

My property line is actually the road along the front of my house. However, since there is an endangered Engleman Oak tree growing in the line of where the road would have run, the road was dog-legged around the tree, cutting off a small piece of my property.

So in effect, the small piece of property on which the tree is growing, is my property even though it is contiguous to the property of my neighbor across the road and is, in effect, part of his property.

[Manfred M]

There is an easement for the power company going through my back yard. They are nowhere near as nice as that company; the tree would have been removed for being to close to the power lines. Any tree that could fall over and take out the power lines is gone.

On the other hand, who wants to wait for days to have the power restored if a tree takes down a line?

[DanK]

I think it is very common in the US for cities and villages to hold an easement that covers the sidewalk and the border between the sidewalk and the street. Everywhere I have lived, they also own the trees in that marginal area. There are some exceptions. In New England, we still have some private streets, called "unaccepted" streets in my town. I'm on one. It's a real pain, and those who have easements should be grateful, IMHO. The town won't do serious maintenance on the road (I own to the midline, with no easement), and they don't take any responsibility for dead trees, etc. I had a dead tree across the street threatening my house for two years because it was up to the owner, not the town, to remove it.

Around here, the power company trims only the parts of the trees that come close to their lines, which are the highest ones on the pole. They have that right and responsibility even on private streets. The cable and FIOS lines below them are ignored until a limb takes them down.

[xpatUSA]

In New England, we still have some private streets, called "unaccepted" streets in my town.

My street (the one in the OP) was given over to the County over twenty years ago before I bought the property. Since then, it has never been resurfaced and some rutting filled with dirt just the one time!

They're pretty good with downed trees though, this one was cleared the same day.