I fully sympathize with your problem. I live in a "nice" neighborhood of $500K+ homes, but our street is a convenient shortcut for many people. My neighbor recently had two $1000+ cycads stolen from his home recently. They were so big that it must have taken two or three men to carry them off.
Just last week another neighbor was asking me how to secure a pot for her plant that had cost $2500!!! The pot *alone* takes two people to lift it. With the dirt and plant in it, I'm sure it will require a forklift to move. Yet, she told me how similar plants have been stolen from collectors in broad daylight.
For a guy with a black thumb, this level of plant involvement seems a bit strange, but I'm sure they think my metalworking hobbies are equally strange. Now that the neighborhood has become "nice", I've had to give up welding outdoors after dark. :-)
It sounds like you should be examining your own life and character to determine why you provoke such vandalism on the part of so many people in different locations.
I've gone my whole life without causing anyone to vandalize my property, yet you've managed it twice that you boast of.
You're certainly good at coming up with reasons why nothing will work. ;-)
Your driveway has an edge someplace. That's where you can put an anchor into the ground.
No one will trip over a cable or chain if it's real short. It doesn't need to be 5 feet long. Put the anchor 1 inch away from the edge of the pot. No one will trip over it and sue you.
Regarding your ordinances and lease, those are non-issues. Use a camera that's about 1 cubic inch. X10 has them. Install the alarm in your car with a wireless sensor in the pot.
Here's another solution: Smear dirty grease all over the outside of the pot and toss dirt on it so it has a natural look. If anyone tries to lift the pot, they will ruin their clothes and the interior of their car.
I'd stop putting those flower pots in my front yard and put them out back instead.
There is a concept of public and private space. Land in front of the front wall of a house is generally considered public space unless zoning allows fencing and hedges to restrict access. Public space doesn't mean the public owns the land, but it does mean that someone walking across your grass or driveway won't be arrested for trespass unless they have been properly warned according to local laws. In essence, that means you don't want to put valuable or easily stolen or damaged items in that public space. If you want flowers or plants, choose ones better suited and plant them in a planter less likely to be taken.
You could move, but landscaping theft occurs in better neighborhoods as well, which is one of the reasons why you often see gates and fences in front of expensive mansions.
Call ADT. Tell them you want to have wireless contacts attached to the pots in inconspicuous spots. When the contact is removed from the protection area, the alarm will either (ARMED) sound the alarm, or (DISARMED) beep the keypad to let you know.
Gary V. Deutschmann, Sr. wrote: || "The Brown Family" snipped-for-privacy@cox.net verbositized: || ||| Set up some sort of camera and bust em. || || That won't work at all! || I know, been there and done that. || || We had a neighbor use his pick-up truck, filled with debris, back || into my garage (with the door closed) knocking the door off it's || track and ruining it. || || I had the garage door replaced! || || The next weekend the guy came back and did the same thing to the || brand new garage door. || || A neighbor hearing the noise grabbed a video cam and made a movie of || the guy unloading his truck and driving away. || || We turned the video tape over to the police department and also || pointed out the home the guy lived in to them. || || What came of it? || || About 15 days later he came back, filled the garage with debris || again, and drove back home. Later that night he set the debis on || fire! Clearly a case of Arson. || The police classified this as an accidental fire due to debris || accumulation. || || Another similar case, different location, a neighbor across the || street tore down a falling wood two car garage. He had his helpers || carry the debris across the street to my house, broke in the kitchen || door, tore down the basement door and tossed most of the debris down || the basement steps until no more would fit, the rest they hauled || into the living room and then filled the kitchen too. || || A neighbor to the north video taped the many trips made to the house || to unload their debris. || Police investigators found solid proof of where the debris came from || as they left their address on the siding of the garage on one of the || pieces of debris. || || What did the police do? || || Told the guy he shouldn't ought to have done that. || He was NOT charged with breaking and entering. || He was NOT charged with illegal dumping. || He was NOT charged with demolition without a permit. || He was NOT charged with vandalism. || || And, the police would NOT return the video tape so it could be used || as evidence against the person ordering such disposal onto private || property. || || TTUL || Gary
I wonder if you can sue the police for negligence of duty or some similar charge . You might even get awarded punative damages , I dont know . I am not a lawyer , but research the law library a lot .
I don't live in the greatest of areas myself. As a matter of fact, when I tried to get home tonight, the police had the entire block sealed off as a crime scene. The officer on the barricade said there was a gunbattle between an officer and one or more suspects, and the investigation was likely to take several more hours.
Even so, I've never had any sort of problem anywhere I lived where my neighbors repeatedly filled my house with trash. Apparently you (assuming you are the original poster) have some sort of personality disorder that encourages this sort of reaction.
No I didn't! I called the police and turned the video tape over to them. They took eye witness reports from neighbors and left.
Dumping is illegal in St. Louis City, who by the way provides dumpsters in all the alleys for debris. However, there are those who will, rather than put trash in the dumpster, dump it alongside of it instead or in someones back yard between areas where dumpsters sit.
Rather than locating the criminal who did the illegal dumping, the City FINES the homeowner of the area where the trash was dumped. Another case of the VICTIM of CRIME getting a double whammy, the cost of cleanup and the cost of the FINE.
Many don't realize that in St. Louis City, the homeowner is RESPONSIBLE for the grounds maintenance to the centerline of the Alley behind their house, concerning debris and weeds, not street maintenance itself.
If you REPORT an illegal dumping and it's OUTSIDE of your back fence, the city will eventually clean it up. But not until it has been added to several times and begins to block the alleyway.
I didn't provoke anything, it's a common occurance in most of St. Louis City. Vandals run rampant and police do absolutely nothing about it, other than FINE the VICTIMS of the crimes.
Where I lived, in West St. Louis County, my own home was never vandalized once, although I did have 3 burglaries over the course of
20 years that I lived there.
But I have had during that same amount of time over 160 cases of vandalizm (broken windows, breaking and entering, etc.) and at least
250 cases of Illegal Dumping, some also including vandalizm on properties I owned inside the City limits of St. Louis.
I purchased derelict homes that other renovators didn't want to mess with, complete restored them and sold them to new homeowners. In other words, I got these houses back on the tax rolls making the city some money rather than costing them money.
I have never had one single client that was not elated with a home they purchased from me at a price well within their budget and often for half of what they were paying in rent elsewhere. Despite the fact that all the vandalizm only cost the purchaser more. If I installed
12 new windows in the home and vandals broke 3 of them, 15 new window installations were in the Cost of Goods Sold which also reflected on the sale price of the home. Each FINE by the city, for illegal dumping on my properties was also added back into the price of the home. So the City was only hurting themselves, not me!
So, before you go pointing fingers at WHO is the CAUSE of the Vandalizm, and blaming the homeowner for bringing it on, look at the lack of law enforcement in the City of St. Louis and WHO the victims are what the CITY does to the VICTIMS of crime.
What the heck did you do to tick your neighbors off this much? I find it difficult to believe the police did nothing. My first advice would be to move but if you can't or don't want to, fight back legally and "only" legally. First and foremost, do not get into a pissing match with your neighbors. Mind your own business and go about your business normally while completely ignoring your neighbour. Chances are very good your neighbor will go onto another mark and leave you alone once his audience is gone. It's like that bully/victim relationship at school. Each play their own part and once one moves on it is no fun for the other. Ensure you are not the instigator to any of your neighbor's behavior. A tit for tat war will only esculate into an all out war and that is really unpleasant not only for you but for other neighbors. You want to keep the other neighbors on your side, so doing anything that looks like your are instigating problems will be viewed negatively by them and may alienate them. Issue a warning of trespassing against the offending party by registered mail, be prepared to follow through, then ignore him unless he trespasses. Insist the police lay charges if the neighbor trespasses. Be prepared that your neighbor may increase his efforts at getting your attention for a short period of time but if you don't react, he'll get bored. You'll feel good that you saved face and are more mature than him :)
Although where I live NOW is considered a bad area, all of the neighbors are wonderful and we have a very low crimerate in the immediate area. I live in a whole different State now. The city where I now live picks up trash and debris, for debris they use a scoop and come by at least once a week. We CAN dump yard waste by the curb and it will be gone before the week is out too.
But regarding the vandalizm to my houses, these are not houses I personally lived in. I lived in West St. Louis County my whole life,
20 years at my last Missouri residence. These were all homes that sat derelict for many years and were now undergoing massive restorations. I could care less about the vandals before work was begun and did not even include those in my complaints, as vandalizm to vacant houses is almost expected, especially in St. Louis City.
But once new doors and windows are installed, the home secured and an alarm system installed, usually new fences and gates come first, also locked. The vandalizm that occurs after this in St. Louis City is phenominal. And even though the city provides dumpsters throughout the city about 500 feet apart everywhere, illegal dumping has become like a game that has gone completely unchecked. Some people will even go PAST a dumpster and lift their debris up over a chain link fence to dump it into someones yard, rather than put it in the provided dumpsters. Even when a dumpster is completely empty, they will just dump their trashcans on the ground alongside of it. South St. Louis is considered the nicer part of the poorer areas of the city, while North St. Louis has the highest crime rates. I found much less vandalizm and much more courteous people in the worst crime areas of the city than I ever did in what was considered the nicest of the poorer sections of town.
I was born and raised in West St. Louis County! But actually LOVED St. Louis for most of that. The old historical buildings, the flair of the city so to speak. It was not until I became a constant victim of unchecked crime that I started disliking the City.
But what took the icing off the cake, or broke the camels back so to speak was when the City of St. Louis began Fining victims of crime for the acts of criminals. That compounded with the crooked inspectors, who if you didn't pad their palm, would NOT pass better than code workmanship. One inspector could uninspect another inspectors report and make an expensive reinspection necessary. For example, you could have the structural inspector examine a property for integrity so you knew whether to bulldozer it over and start over or if the structure was sound. After getting the tests and reports and certificate that the structure was sound and you proceed with the rest of the work, along comes another final inspector and DEMANDS that all the structural tests be redone by a certified whatever that would cost over a grand and much of the work would have to be undone in order to perform these tests.
Here is a TRUE story! We had a professional company come out and install all new seamless guttering and downspouts on one of our two story homes. Code required 4 downspouts, we had 6 downspouts installed, all properly piped to the sanitary sewer system. The City of St. Louis does not have separate storm and sanitary sewers for residential areas as the county does. Along comes Ms. GED graduate inspector and FAILS this excellent guttering system! Claiming that there MUST be a downspout connected to a drain that currently existed in the sidewalk. This would place a new downspout within 2 feet of an existing downspout and virtually ruin the aesthetic appearance of the home, this new downspout would have to pass between a bathroom window and go around a basement window as well. BUT, the inspector required it, so to appease this inspector we called the guttering company, who also protested this lame brained downspout. They installed it, making a new hole in the seamless guttering to do so.
Now along comes Mr. Plumbing inspector. The FIRST thing he notices is that a downspout that wasn't there in the last inspection was now fed into a drain/cleanout/vent opening in the sidewalk. The plumbing inspection fails because of this lame brained DEMAND of the other inspector. The drain had your normal drain cover on it originally, now it was tied to the downspout as instructed by Ms. final inspector. What to do? The sidewalk section was torn up, the drain restored to the function of a trapped drain, the cleanout behind it was now back open to access the vent and a new trapped drain was installed alongside the basement window for the downspout, which could now be run straight. Now the drain system once again passed inspection. Ms. final inspector came by to check the downspout, it passed OK in the new drain, BUT now we had the original drain back to the way it was and a new concrete sidewalk section poured. She then proceeded with, we need to install another downspout, which would run down the other side of the bathroom window, making 3 downspouts at the end of the house, each one about 2 feet apart. Once again, She failed the guttering system. Telling us a downspout MUST go into the drain. We asked WHY, the plumbing inspector will not pass the drain/vent/cleanout from being used for that purpose. She said that her book says that any outside drain within 1 foot of the foundation MUST be used for downspouts only, and she would not Back down. And we would NOT pad her palm, which is what she was really after in the first place! We called the cities engineering department and requested that the city engineer come take a look at a problem we are having. The city engineer came out and told us to remove the additional downspout, it looks ugly and serves NO PURPOSE. This naturally defeated the purpose of having seamless guttering as now there would be an ugly patch where the hole was made to appease the inspector. He also told us block the new drain and fill it in with cement, below the grade of the new sidewalk section. So, not only does the sidewalk not match and is no longer uniform, it will now have a patch in the new section. We had this work completed, basically restoring everything back to the way it was before Ms. GED graduate inspector made us start changing things, the city engineer made the follow up inspection and passed everything. The cost for this fiasco was in excess of $2,800.00 which was naturally added to the selling price of the home. Ms. GED graduate inspector was still the final inspector, but could not override her superior who approved the downspout and drain restoration back to the way it was. While there, he had also inspected everything else and approved it, telling us to contact him if there were any further problems. Well, Ms. final inspector was not going to be undone. She found something like 36 items that she previously passed with no problems and marked them for professional reinspection by certified inspectors. I clicked on a pocket tape recorder and finally asked her what it would take to get each of these things up to her expectations. She said something about improving the neighborhood and would like to see only new homes built in her section. I said to her, these old historical home have a soul, one you just don't find in new construction, then again I asked, what will it take to get this home to pass, what did I miss or overlook. She said flatly, you didn't overlook anything, I just don't want this old home in my neighborhood. I then said, it's virtually new inside and out, you cannot see the superstructure and that's the only thing left that is original. She finally said that if I redid the siding, covering also the stucco area on each side and placed a front covered deck completely across the front and drew me a sketch saying like this as she showed it to me, I think we will be close to finishing up here. Then adding, My daughter has a prom coming up real soon, prom's are really expensive these days, I keep hoping to find the money that I may have dropped around here someplace, you haven't seen it have you! I told her I would check with my workers and see if any had seen any, about how much do you think you lost. I believe it was around 250 dollars that I'm missing. I promised her that I would see if I could find it for her before she gets back for the final inspection of the porch and siding.
I then went to the city engineer with the tape! He gave me a final certificate on the house so it could be sold, but I don't think he did anything about the inspector, she was still working that same area when I closed up shop and moved out of the State.
Not a bad idea! I was not even able, with an attorney, to get the fines reversed for the illegal dumping, although I did get some reversed for mowing charges of property that I had receipts showing was mowed weekly by a contract company and witnesses, namely a Realtor who took pictures showing the place was mowed for the sale advertisement.
But, I actually did one better than that! I sold everything and moved out of the state. Let them keep their derelict houses.
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