One Redditor was taken aback when their neighbor decided to take the Redditor's yard care into his own hands in what they called his "war against plants."
"My boomer next door neighbor (who's also the tyrant head of my HOA) has declared full on war with the small patch of cattails that are growing in my backyard," the Redditor explained in a recent complaint post. "He's infuriating."
Living next to an HOA president has come back to bite someone before. One Redditor said they had their dreams for a garden dashed when their HOA president neighbor created a new rule for the community specifically to block the project.
But this Redditor's neighbor decided to take direct action. "He walked right over to my property and sprayed them all down with a chemical defoliant," they said. "Now he's spraying all the cattails in the neighborhood pond as well."
Herbicides are a dramatic escalation in a yard care dispute and one with repercussions for the people and the environment. Depending on the exact chemical used, they can be unsafe for people and pets in the yard and can damage healthy, wanted plants.
There's also the risk of the chemicals leaking into the wider environment — especially because this Redditor claimed their neighbor contaminated the water supply. "The pond drains into another residential area and a creek that's a wildlife habitat," they said.
That got the attention of Reddit commenters, who were outraged. "Is there any law in your state that makes him responsible for the damage? I would hold him accountable for sure," said one user.
"You might want to check to see if what he did is illegal. I live in New York State, and they are considered endangered," said another commenter.
"Call the environmental department in your area. They're poisoning the water that's illegal no matter what an HOA has dictated about plants," another Redditor suggested.
Water sources in the U.S. have strong legal protections enforced by the EPA. It's possible that the neighbor could be in for severe fines or worse.
"I called the stormwater management office in my county and the rep said they'd contact him and the HOA," the original poster said in a comment. Hopefully, the local authorities will be able to convince him, even if the original poster couldn't.
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