I am all over private property. I believe a property owner has rights, and should be allowed to use his or her land as they see fit, so long as it doesn't impact me, or my property in any fashion.
That's the way we do things here on our own property, and I expect the same from my neighbors. If my neighbor decides he would rather burn his trash than take it to an approved dumping facility, go for it. Just make sure that smoke doesn't come onto my property and force me to close my windows. I have the right to enjoy fresh air, after all.
If he decides to turn his stereo up loud enough to vibrate the siding on his house every night, more power to him. I like my music loud also. However, our musical tastes are not the same, so kindly install some type of soundproof noise barrier between his home and mine.....my windows are open, remember? And I'm not a big country music fan.
If he decides junkyard ownership is in his immediate future, fine. Just be sure and build a privacy fence around the whole establishment. I don't want my property values plummeting because of his actions. And while he's at it, be sure those vehicles don't leak fluids into the ground water. We do share that aquifer.
And if I have a pond, I will take every precaution in order to try and mitigate that BOW's presence on everything in it's potential pathway. I will be mindful of the fish, and the chemicals I introduce into it. That's just how I was raised, and how I believe.
That same neighbor would think nothing of calling the landlord when he or she lived in town, and the tenants above his/her apartment raised such a ruckus the ceiling began to shed drywall....so how is this scenario any different?
I propose that we wouldn't need so much governmental intervention if everyone simply respected everyone else's property rights as much as they value their own. But sadly, that day and age has long since passed.
I could not possibly disagree more. There is no right to your property value being held up by your neighbors appearance. You do not have a right to quiet. You may not even have a right to the occasional smoke coming from your neighbors trash fire (some courts have ruled with you and some against you).
If these things were true, you would not have a right to mow your lawn (mower too loud) , have wood heating or maybe even certain aromatic flowers on your lawn (smoke too smelly flowers too stinky), paint your home to the color you like (your neighbor may claim it decreases their home value). These types of expectations of "rights" are EXACTLY why we have an out of control government. There are actually people so weak that they expect the right to these things and more.
Now, should your neighbor be polite and take kindly to the Golden Rule? Heck yes they should! I just haven't found the person yet where I've had to go running like some sissy to my local government and make some new law (nor would I). Direct infringements, not the indirect infringements of noise and such, are really pretty rare and I've not known or even heard of many who do such things.
On another note, where in Article I Section VIII of the US Constitution does the federal government have the power to even regulate these things? They do not and this power to regulate items not listed is left specifically to the States and to the people. The weak minded among us will try to make water flow up hill once more with the inter-state commerce clause. When there isn't a way to for the infringers among us to get federal regulation they simply throw their dreams in with the interstate commerce clause.
