Backyard Yelling Becomes Harassment
A recent news story involving a backyard trapeze and yelling resulted in charges of harassment and shows how important good neighbors can be.
Home lots these days are pretty small, and houses are getting closer and closer together. Inevitably this leads to a higher rate of neighbor disputes and problems of many kinds. So, what would your response be if you saw your neighbor installing a full-blown trapeze in their backyard? While this scenario might seem to be something out of a comedy movie and a little unlikely, it is exactly what happened in one valley neighborhood about 3 years ago when one homeowner decided to install a trapeze including bars, ladders, netting, and extending roughly thirty feet into the air, way over the fence lines and taller than many homes. Well, neighbors weren’t happy and did what many would do and complained to authorities. The trapeze was an invasion of their privacy and was being used as a business. Unfortunately, the trapeze was ultimately deemed to be within code and allowed for personal enjoyment.
Where this gets interesting is that one neighbor in particular who was not happy with this outcome was charged with harassment for apparently yelling commands and making noise while the trapeze was in use. This unhappy neighbor, however, claims that she was simply feeding her horses and calling out to her dog. While the truth behind this situation may never be known, it is interesting that the privacy of the backyard and what can be done with it appears to only extend so far and that harassment charges can result from the noise that you make, or are accused of making, in your backyard.
In this particular case the unhappy neighbor was sentenced to 60 days in jail for her yelling. However, she had finally had enough of the neighborhood circus and decided to sell her house, leave the state, and hope for better neighbors in her next abode. Her 60 days will be suspended if she truly does leave the state.