Check to see if it is even legal !! we live in the country and something like that is a fire hazard and don't know where you are but most of us have had a very dry and fire danderous summer. It is also a home to rats, snakes and termits... sounds pretty close to your house too. Do you know anyone who burns wood in the winter, prehaps they could clear a lot of it for firewood,

I cannot offer a solution, but that would certainly bother me. What age is this person? Did he/she do it or have it done?

I hope that you are able to remedy it someway.

Wagnerkat~

I am so sorry that you're having to deal with this. But, I can totally relate. We have a neighbor who must be a relative of yours. We've been involved in numerous police calls, animal control calls and even been to court about him. We are currently paying to have a new driveway installed and a privacy fence running the length of our property. I would suggest a couple of things. First, call the zoning department where you live to see if your neighbor can have his "trash" there. Most likely, it is not legal for him to have it on the property line. Second, inquire with your county on "fire hazard" laws. Depending on where you are, it is illegal to pile flammable materials within a certain distance of another dwelling.

Again, I am so sorry to hear that your neighbor, and I use that term very loosely, is being such a pain. I hope you find a quick solution.

Thanks for all the input. I will look into some of the solutions provided and am now going down the fence route which will enhance my property and view.

I would start with where did it come from, and how long has it been there? Did the neighbor clear-cut an area and have it piled onto the side? If so, it may just be stage 1 of a removal process that they may intend to complete in the spring. On the other hand, if they are cleaning up their wooded property, only to have it piled next to yours, it is definitely not the right thing to do.

I would check with the city to see what is allowable to get some information first. Then talk the neighbor in a light-hearted way to feel them out-"Hey, that's some huge pile of trees you got there! How many homes for skunks and snakes you trying to make?" and see what he says. If this is the first time they've lived near woods they may think this is acceptable behavior, that everyone does it. He may not realize how his actions bothered you.

Was there an alternative more acceptable location where he could have put the debris? That he can move it to for now?

Is there anyone else you can talk to, maybe a neighbor on the other side, that may have some input or information as to why this was done?

Until and unless you hear it from him, I would not assume it was done maliciously, or that the current state is the final expected result, but do be prepared with information from the city as to what is allowed and what is not when you speak to him.

I'd personally prefer to see tree debris over the mess that is in MY neighbor's yard!

Good luck.
Beatice

My neighbor has done something similar. Piles of tree debris along the property line, though his piles are only about 3' tall. He's been throwing his leaf and yard debris on top - so I *think* he is trying to build a berm. So I went out and sprinkled a bunch of brown eyed susan seeds, shasta daisy seeds and rose campion seeds on top of his debris pile. My hope is that some of these seeds will sprout, and then I'll be looking at a berm of greenery instead of a berm of yard waste.

I guess I might be "guilty" of that, Except I want to screen out the mess behind the end of my woods, where the brush pile is. It began in 2007 when we had a tree-destroying ice storm and nowhere else to pile the brush. There are no close neighbors who can actually even see it, but it protects my woods garden from prying eyes of neighborhood vandals.

I also have a National Habitat garden, and the brush pile is home to snakes that eat the voles and mice, rabbits, a weasel that eats the rabbits as well as the aforementioned mice and voles, flocks of birds, and a groundhog. Maybe an opossum or two. The brush pile also helps feed the owls, foxes and hawks.

The back side, or the outside of the pile, has honeysuckle climbing all over it, so it isn't bad to look at and smells good when it blooms.

It isn't a fire hazard, and every year it settles down some. I am planning to let it settle more, and plant a screen of junipers on the inside, so when it becomes just a berm, there will be an row of evergreens that will still screen the woods and protect my privacy.

It sounds however as if your neighbor's property line is very close to you. If they refuse to do anything about the spoiling of your view and cutting out your light, you might consider planting a row of trees on your side to screen it. Would be a great place for a woodland shade garden to be developed!

Sandy

7 to 10 feet tall for 120 feet sounds like a lot of brush. Where diditcome from I wonder. Didn't you post this on another forum a couple years ago? If not someonein the excact situation did. You mightsearch to see what answers they got.
Kathy

Your post is the one I was remembering!
Howabout report on what has happened?
Goodluck
Kathy

The first thing I'd do is to get a survery of the property lines and see just where the real line is. It could be that the stuff is on your property. I have a friend whose neighbor had a habit of building on her property.

be a blessing if a spark of fire got in there one late night, i'm just thinking out loud

I have the same problem here in Westville n.y. and I have reached out to everyone(code, health deartment and DEC) and no one will do anything. I have COPD and it has caused attacks multiple times. I can't even open my windows most of the time in my bedroom due to this. I got a brand new house and I can't even open my windows for some fresh air. I could use some advice

I got woke up this am with my throat swollen and the only thing I could smell is mold. The air flow mostly comes for the direction and the people that own the land I have emailed and asked them to remove it politely after I ended up having to see my pulmonologist do to it. They also know how allergic I am to the mold. As at one point we were talking fine. If you have any advice I will take it. At this point this is making me sick and with spring here it's so much worse. Any advice? All of this trees and leaves and pine needles came across the street from his old property.

Brush piles are actually good things, we now know. They provide habitat for wildlife, especially those that will control your rodent and rabbit populations. We abut an undeveloped lot that we and previous owners have used for forty years to dispose of brush debris in a kind is snaking hedgerow. My plan is to offer to have it all chipped if and when the ownee ever shows up and complains.

Yes they are providing they are not having other or causing other problems! Ideally I got the information I needed with reading to other people's comments. When it's causing unhealth hazardous conditions something can be done!