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ripcord

(5,081 posts)
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 02:31 PM Mar 2021

Conservatives tend to make up rights

My neighbor doesn't like that I have gone with a yard that doesn't have a lawn to conserve water, I modeled it after some I had seen in Tucson. He claims that since I don't have a lawn I am decreasing their property value and never misses a chance to say something negative. I told him that since Southern California has to import water having lawns is irresponsible and selfish to which he informed me that he had a constitutional right to have a lawn.

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Conservatives tend to make up rights (Original Post) ripcord Mar 2021 OP
A constitutional right to a lawn hauckeye Mar 2021 #1
The Constitution is actually quite clear on this point. Mister Ed Mar 2021 #15
Oh, you are so bad. I'm so glad we can still laugh about some of this insanity. Biophilic Mar 2021 #16
That's not nearly as bad as the conservatives' belief in the right to spread disease. Towlie Mar 2021 #18
Or in Mr. Potato Head's right to have a penis. 11 Bravo Mar 2021 #23
Careful......does he have guns? machoneman Mar 2021 #2
He is all talk ripcord Mar 2021 #3
!! talk about who is decreasing whose musette_sf Mar 2021 #17
You should say, jimfields33 Mar 2021 #4
I think houses with xeriscaped landscapes should get a property tax break in some regions. CrispyQ Mar 2021 #5
I drive by Owens Lake and get pissed off every time I see that ecological disaster ripcord Mar 2021 #7
There is a bit of a tradeoff. Mosby Mar 2021 #9
Yes but Pheonix has dependable source for water ripcord Mar 2021 #13
I totally get that. CrispyQ Mar 2021 #25
That's hilarious! treestar Mar 2021 #6
Your neighbor is lowering the property values more! Buckeye_Democrat Mar 2021 #8
I actually walked away from a house showing when I saw the Trump flag next door. Midnight Writer Mar 2021 #11
Exactly! What sane person wants a guaranteed wacko... Buckeye_Democrat Mar 2021 #14
I'm surprised he didn't get his god in on it too. Maru Kitteh Mar 2021 #10
And God always wants exactly what they want! Mister Ed Mar 2021 #22
Of COURSE he has a Constitutional right to a lawn! It's right there in Amendment 45-d! n/t TygrBright Mar 2021 #12
I think it's Amendment 45-G leftieNanner Mar 2021 #20
It seems to me you have a constitutional right to have a non-lawn. nt Binkie The Clown Mar 2021 #19
In California a few years ago leftieNanner Mar 2021 #21
Yes they make up rights chriscan64 Mar 2021 #24
The city codes are his rights. SmartVoter22 Mar 2021 #26

hauckeye

(626 posts)
1. A constitutional right to a lawn
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 02:34 PM
Mar 2021

Um...right.... I’d like to see where that is in the constitution 😄

Mister Ed

(5,895 posts)
15. The Constitution is actually quite clear on this point.
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 03:06 PM
Mar 2021

It specifies a mix of ryegrass, fescue, and Kentucky bluegrass. It's right there in the 76th amendment somewhere.


Biophilic

(3,476 posts)
16. Oh, you are so bad. I'm so glad we can still laugh about some of this insanity.
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 03:12 PM
Mar 2021

How else does one deal with it?

ripcord

(5,081 posts)
3. He is all talk
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 02:40 PM
Mar 2021

But he had the most obnoxious Trump shrine during the elections complete with large signs, colored spotlights and the National Anthem on a continuous loop.

jimfields33

(15,450 posts)
4. You should say,
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 02:45 PM
Mar 2021

“Well, since I’m lowering your property value, you should be thanking me for less taxes on the next assessment.” Repugs hate taxes so that should leave him in a quandary. And unless he’s moving in the next few years, property value tend to go up.

CrispyQ

(36,221 posts)
5. I think houses with xeriscaped landscapes should get a property tax break in some regions.
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 02:47 PM
Mar 2021

My neighbor waters his lawn in the heat of the day. It's a fucking sprinkler system & he has it set to water at noon. WTF? I'm stunned how many people don't seem to be aware or care about water conservation in a semi-arid environment, particularly an area going through a long draught. Don't even get me started on the acres & acres of business park lawn that is mown & watered, and again, often during the heat of the day. Lawn that no one goes on except the folks that maintain it.

Mosby

(16,158 posts)
9. There is a bit of a tradeoff.
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 02:55 PM
Mar 2021

Full disclosure I like grass and have a full lawn in front and back. I live in Phoenix.

The tradeoff is that surrounding your home with gravel and desert plants will cause more direct and indirect heat into your house, so you will have higher electric bills. Grass, shrubs and trees have a very noticeable cooling effect, in my area you can feel the difference with daytime and nighttime Temps. My neighborhood is around 5-6 degrees cooler than the sky harbor temp. I live in NC Phx.

ripcord

(5,081 posts)
13. Yes but Pheonix has dependable source for water
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 03:05 PM
Mar 2021

Southern California imports more than half its water from other areas that can use that water. Luckily the courts are forcing them to be responsible for the problems they have caused.

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2021-03-15/judge-rules-against-los-angeles-in-ranch-irrigation-fight

CrispyQ

(36,221 posts)
25. I totally get that.
Sun Mar 21, 2021, 11:31 AM
Mar 2021

Last year, our next door neighbor cut down a huge honey locust tree that bordered our property & we were much, much warmer last summer! That said, when the Colorado runs dry, what are we going to do?

There was a book a few years ago based on that premise. The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi. What I found interesting was the author had created a socio-hierarchy of people from states suffering from the worst draught & water shortages, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah. Texans were at the very bottom.

I worked on a software project with a landscaper a few years ago & got to see some gorgeous xeriscaped yards that weren't all rock. They were however, incredibly expensive installations!

treestar

(82,383 posts)
6. That's hilarious!
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 02:48 PM
Mar 2021


Doesn't he realize you have a constitutional right to one too then? And a constitutional right to design it as you please?

Buckeye_Democrat

(14,846 posts)
8. Your neighbor is lowering the property values more!
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 02:53 PM
Mar 2021

If I was searching to buy a house, I'd make no offers after seeing a neighbor with a shrine to Trump!

Midnight Writer

(21,540 posts)
11. I actually walked away from a house showing when I saw the Trump flag next door.
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 03:04 PM
Mar 2021

The realtor put me in a spot when she showed up sans mask, and told me I didn't need to wear one.

Then I noticed the Trump flag, and I cut the whole thing short and politely told her I wasn't interested.

She seemed quite put out.

Maru Kitteh

(28,303 posts)
10. I'm surprised he didn't get his god in on it too.
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 03:00 PM
Mar 2021

The rights of white conservative men are almost always "GOD-given" I have observed.





leftieNanner

(14,997 posts)
21. In California a few years ago
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 04:48 PM
Mar 2021

I remember reading about someone in a neighborhood with strict CC&Rs that required a front lawn. This was during a serious drought and people were being penalized Big Time for using too much water. So the homeowner removed the lawn and put in a beautiful desert-like landscape. The Homeowner's Association sued them. And unfortunately, I think they won.

Stupid.

chriscan64

(1,789 posts)
24. Yes they make up rights
Sat Mar 20, 2021, 06:54 PM
Mar 2021

plus, they feel their rights real or imagined are threatened by others having rights as if rights were a pizza that only has so many slices. To top it all off, somehow your neighbor's constitutional right to a lawn extends all the way to the right to deny you your style of lawn. I would guess that his heterosexuality entitles him to a world free of gay marriage in his mind.

SmartVoter22

(639 posts)
26. The city codes are his rights.
Sun Mar 21, 2021, 11:44 AM
Mar 2021

He must comply with every city or county building/planning codes and ordinances the neighbor lives in.
He cannot make up building codes to 'suit his fancy'.

His lawn must be kept to a certain height. He cannot plant invasive species. If a water ban, is in effect, he must comply.

I cannot find anything Constitutional about this fact, which affects every single home in the US.
Other than, the neighbor must comply. Period.

He has no choice, no 'opinion-based' exemption or a legal standing in the local court he'd be charged in.

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