AnonymousBy an edhat reader
A construction project has been going on in the backyard of my neighbor behind our house for the past 2-3 weeks.
In the beginning, I thought they were just building a patio because I have not seen any public notice posted in front of their house about any new addition or renovation. Now that It has been going on for so long it starts to make me think otherwise.
Where can I report a new construction such as this? Any new construction in their backyard has the potential of infringing on my privacy and other neighbors. We appreciate an opportunity to know what it is and give our input. We live in the Noleta neighborhood.
Thanks for any information on where to report as well as what type of construction does not require public notice.
If you can’t see it and don’t know what it is, how is it impacting your privacy? Why do you feel the need to have “input” on someone else’s property – ESPECIALLY since you can’t even see it? You haven’t even talked to them, but have no problem reporting them for something you know nothing about. This is just mean-spirited.
Easy to call the local government and find out if there is a permit on file for any work on the property. Anything over $500 is supposed to have a permit. If you find out that there isn’t, and you want someone to check it out, you have to decide if you want to go on record with your request, knowing that your information can be given to the owner once the complaint has been resolved. They do this to decrease the number of complaints they get because many people are afraid of retaliation. All those people that want you to go over and talk to the person first have never dealt with a hostile neighbor with a situation that ended up with restraining orders and court time. If you are not already friends with the person, this is not the way to start.
Yes you can file a complaint, if you think they’re doing things without a permit. Just be sure you’re right about their project being one which will impact you. I have never EVER heard of a complaint about zoning/building violations being anonymous. Your neighbors will know it is you who complained——unless you have your complaint lodged by an attorney. That is the only way I know of to keep your name off their permanent BAD list. Have an attorney call in the complaint and then you can always claim innocence later, when things get ugly. Personally, I have watched my neighbors go hog wild with landscaping projects and such and held my peace. But if they were building anything that overlooked my back yard or anything I knew was going to mean noise problems later on, I would not hesitate to report them. And, by the way, in the City of Santa Barbara you need a permit to pour a concrete deck/patio. I don’t know about Noleta/County regulations.
Two to three weeks of construction? If you’re hearing table saws and hammering and jackhammering, etc, definitely in need of a permit. Check and see if they have one online.
If the neighbor is doing work on their own land, i really don’t see how you have a valid complaint. it’s their home, their land. if you want to start calling and complaining about people doing work or whatnot on their private residence, you are also opening yourself up for the same treatment by your own neighbors. live and let live, or just simply, mind your own affairs…..
Why do neighbours have to be so mean spirited before all else? One can’t work on one’s house without the neighbour getting their nose out of joint that they weren’t consulted or asked for permission. Would you consult your neighbour before you changed out the windows, replaced the roof, built a deck or resurfaced the pool? Of course not. It’s not their decision to make. So why is it yours?
Well, if they are doing something w/o a permit they should have had, it will wreck havoc if or when the house comes up for sale, even in 50 years. As far as the comment about renting being better than owning, we couldn’t afford to live here if we had to rent, The prices are crazy! Of course, so are buying prices. Luckily we bought 42 years ago, the least expensive we could find.
You get the world you see. – AB
And that is your problem how? That would be the homeowner’s problem not yours. People need to learn to MYOB in this area. Unless someone is literally building a 2nd floor onto their home that encroaches on light or another easement, go about your own business and hope you aren’t living in a glass house.
couldnt you just go over to your neighbor and ask what hes building? or it sounds like you and your neighbor are not “friendly”
File a complaint. It can be anonymous. Your neighbor isn’t a good neighbor if they are doing this without permits.
File a zoning ordinance complaint with the city at 630 Garden Street. Let the city take over from there.
Why can’t you just talk to these people? Not every one knows when permits are or are not required and for some things, people think a permit is not. If you just go and “report” it you could cause alot of problems for these people – I know someone who was shocked to find out that a permit was required for something he was working on – and someone “reported” him ad caused alot of problems for him. Just talk to them and give them a chance to rectify it before they are suddenly surprised with some violation. Be a decent person.
Gee, I would just ask them what they are planning. They may have a building permit. I’ve never seen a notice in our neighborhood when someone remodels or builds an addition.
Just because work is going on doesn’t mean anything illegal is going on. My POS neighbor did this to me and we haven’t spoken in 4 years.
Hang on. Are you really jumping to the conclusion that noise over a few weeks is unpermitted construction. Yikes…bring the guy a beer and ask him what’s going on. My guess is that the neighbor is carving a dolphin from Noleta sandstone…or building a shed. /sarc
And if you can’t see it, how much is it really impacting you…..
I play by the rules, though my issue is tree trimming and trying for removal. Bonded, licensed companies won’t remove trees without a city (in my case) permit. I will not hire an unlicensed, uninsured company, unlike one neighbor in particular, who had a 3 story pine removed. I heard a piece of the trunk come crashing down and take out a glass patio table.
When it becomes a party house short-term rental or un-permitted ADU is how it will affect you.
Santa Barbara is Santa Barbara because it has a tradition of people playing by the rules they agreed to sign up for, when they chose to live here. This previous value-added is rapidly being lost. Honor this long-tradition of extreme care for our built environment, as much as many claim they feel about the wilderness environment.
Since you have the address, all you have to do is contact the city zoning department to see if they have a valid permit or not. You might be able to do this online- check out the city website. It does have a lot of useful links and is very educational about what is regulated in this town and what you can do about registering various complaints. Check with your local district city council member who can explore these questions for you. We are paying them nearly $80,000 a year to represent us. Pays long term to understand how your own city works and who is responsible for what.
Be aware that when you file a zoning ordinance complaint the neighbor will KNOW it was you, the city will not take an anonymous complaint, so once your neighbor has been chastised and fined and harassed by the building inspectors expect a visit when that same neighbor calls and reports something YOU have done that was not permitted or tells about something that is not up to code. The karma will come around. None of us are without sin, and if once you get reported for one violation the fresh hell of bureaucrats who need to justify their paychecks will descend on you, too.
Was the neighbor doing something illegal? Why condone that. Maybe this means everyone needs to pay more attention to whom they elect to city council because they are charged with making and enforcing the rules and community standards that benefit us all. Odd times since there is a growing message people want the government to do everything for them; but not to them. Work that out with your elected representatives.
Ratting out a neighbor – especially when you don’t really know if a permit is required, what they are or are not doing, or if they even have a permit (not every one knows to hang them up) is really uncool and invites lots and lots of future problems including them ratting you out. Make sure your house is clean before you start poking around someone else’s. Try talking to them instead.
Ah yes. The drama of being a homeowner, all the different high insurances you need, the high mortgage, the neighborly drama. No thanks! I love the simpleness of just being a renter.
PITMIX made the most well-reasoned and thoughtful comment. There is no such thing as “asking nicely” and not getting someone’s back up. As soon as you ask, your neighbors will brand you a busybody because that’s how people react nowadays. (Just look at the majority of the comments on this thread.) Far too many people are ready and itching to take offense, particularly if they’re doing something they know they shouldn’t be doing. It’s pitiful. What’s ironic is: you can count on the fact that some of your other neighbors are wondering what the heck is going on but are too spineless to do anything about it. No one wants to be a “bad neighbor,” apart from the bully/entitled neighbors who do what they want and too bad for those who live nearby. Contact your Noleta zoning dept and find out what’s what. I can tell you from experience that all the bottles of wine and muffin baskets in the world won’t make good neighbors of people who want to do things illegally to save a buck.
You can go to the County’s Planning and Development website and research their permit history at sbcountyplanning.org/permitting. There is a tool to look up your neighbor’s parcel #, then use that to run the “Permit History by Parcel” report. Perhaps you’ll find a permit on file for their project. If not, take a look at what the construction project is, and try to determine if it would require permits. If you think they’re skirting the rules, you can file a suspected violation to Code Enforcement. The online form for this says that your contact info, while necessary to provide, is kept confidential.
Please use human kindness and go speak with your neighbors first!
Why wouldn’t you do that first? Isn’t that the simplest way to get your answers?
Before opening a can of worms, why don’t you walk over and say “Hey, Neighbor; whatcha workin on?” and go from there. Just as you, they have a right to make upgrades to their home as they wish/see fit/get permits to do so. Perhaps the notice is posted in a place that you have not passed/seen. Going about things the nice way will make your life much more peaceful in the long run. Who knows, maybe they’ll even invite you over for a BBQ on their new patio when it’s done and life will be grand with your new friends.
All the bottles of wine and muffins also won’t make busybody NIMBYs into decent people either. The NIMBYs need to go.