A few days ago, I received a notice that a nearby neighbor’s house would be undergoing extensive renovations.
I’ve been here before.
During the past 10 years, the next door neighbor’s house was torn down and rebuilt, the house behind mine had extensive renovations including a large two-story addition and a deck, two houses diagonally behind mine were torn down and rebuilt, and the house across the street has had extensive indoor and outdoor renovations. They have all been changes of choice, not necessity.
Necessary repairs such as those required by flood, fire or wind damage aren’t done by choice. Most people put up with the problems caused by those necessary repairs and feel compassion for the families burdened with them.
It’s the changes of choice that hurt.
Imagine a family that seeks a neighborhood they like. They find one. It’s attractive, convenient, and the price is right. They buy a house there and then promptly say, “let’s rip this dump down and build a palace on our quarter acre plot.
So what if it clashes with the look of the neighborhood? So what if the work takes a year and a half? So what if disturbs the neighbors, or endangers their health or ruins their sleep? We’ll have what we want on our land!”
Soon a huge truck drops a metal dumpster or two next to the targeted house. Then comes the hailstorm of detritus – the plaster, metal, wood and concrete flung into the dumpsters from 8 in the morning until 6 in the evening, five or even six days a week. That detritus contains asbestos, lead and formaldehyde, all of which flakes and drifts around the area, making a gas chamber of what used to be a suburb.
Then there’s the constant stream of noisy, malodorous supply trucks and the cars of the workers.
Finally there’s the painfully high decibel racket of sawing, hammering, planing, slate cutting and worker screams and bellows.
Noise pollution raises blood pressure, and can trigger heart attacks, strokes, headaches and ulcers.
Air pollution can trigger asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis and degenerative necrosis.
Both shorten lives.
All of this occurs because people – not evil people, just people obsessed by a dream – think they can do whatever they want on their property without regard to the health and safety of others. It occurs despite the fact that their neighbors’ rights to a quiet, healthy life are being violated for 10 months, or 18 months or even 30 months.
Even though I can not stop this work, I do have a suggestion, a modest proposal of sorts: anyone doing major renovations of choice must pay their neighbors’ property taxes for the period in which the work is conducted. This would show a true spirit of contrition, and be an admission that the perpetrators of neighborhood misery are willing to accept some responsibility for their actions, actions which severely limit the ability of their neighbors to live at peace.
If you want to build a palace, then pay your neighbors for the privilege.
David Conford
Great Neck
