The Myth of a Forever Lake View
October 25, 2007
I like to say Lake Havasu City is the city with the
lake view. And it is. Just drive around town, look westward,
and chances are, you’ll see Lake Havasu. When people move here, they
often look for a home with a lake view.
Our home doesn’t have a
lake view. It doesn’t bother me, after all, when I am driving
around town the lake is always there, in plain view. But the real
reason, it wasn’t a priority. Our family lived on the California side of
the lake for many years, and during that time, we had the most amazing,
close up lake view, that it would be impossible to replace. So why try?
But as real estate
agents, we still have clients who insist on purchasing a home with a
lake view. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a forever lake
view, which is something a buyer needs to understand. If the view
is the primary reason for buying, will you still be happy if it
disappears?
One such loss of a lake
view happened to some good friends of ours, and was recently brought
before the Lake Havasu City council. From their living room window, you
could once see a panoramic view of Lake Havasu. There was no reason to
believe that would ever change, after all, there were no vacant lots in
that direction, and the home right next door was on a much lower level.
In fact, you couldn’t even see the neighbor’s backyard when standing at
the window.
But then new neighbors
moved. The new neighbors planted trees along the property line.
Trees. As in a hedge of trees. Trees that grew very fast,
and would soon create a solid hedge, blocking forever our friend’s
beautiful lake view.
According to city ordinances, hedges located near the set backs can not
exceed 5 or 6 feet. When our friend complained to the city, they were
told that trees (even planted so close together) were not classified as
a hedge.
The sad thing, the
neighbor would still have his privacy if he kept his hedge to hedge
height, and our friend would still have his view. Unfortunately,
neighbors are not always neighborly.
Bobbi Holmes