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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsConservatives 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.
hauckeye
(626 posts)Um...right.... Id like to see where that is in the constitution 😄
Mister Ed
(5,895 posts)It specifies a mix of ryegrass, fescue, and Kentucky bluegrass. It's right there in the 76th amendment somewhere.
Biophilic
(3,476 posts)How else does one deal with it?
Towlie
(5,307 posts)
?
11 Bravo
(23,922 posts)machoneman
(3,951 posts)ripcord
(5,081 posts)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.
musette_sf
(10,184 posts)property value
jimfields33
(15,450 posts)Well, since Im 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 hes moving in the next few years, property value tend to go up.
CrispyQ
(36,221 posts)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.
ripcord
(5,081 posts)Mosby
(16,158 posts)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)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)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)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)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)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.
Buckeye_Democrat
(14,846 posts)... living nearby?
Maru Kitteh
(28,303 posts)The rights of white conservative men are almost always "GOD-given" I have observed.
Mister Ed
(5,895 posts)And hates whoever they hate.
It's downright uncanny.
TygrBright
(20,733 posts)leftieNanner
(14,997 posts)G is for grass. Or maybe it's 45-L (for lawn).
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)leftieNanner
(14,997 posts)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)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)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.