Patrick Fitzgerald, 51, said he planted two small trees by his home in Merritt Island, Fla. a year ago. Now he and the River Grove Homeowners Association have undergone legal mediation and some heated words in which he has called the board “idiots.”
“This has gotten so carried away it is absolutely ridiculous,” the HOA president told ABCNews.com. “To me it’s ludicrous.”
The association board, which is a group of volunteers, says there is a rule that trees must eight feet tall in the right-of-way, a thin patch of lawn between the sidewalk and the road that is a few feet away from Fitzgerald’s property. But the board’s main problem with the trees, its president says, is the aesthetics of the area and that there are too many — more than what the landscaper’s plan allows.
Fitzgerald, who says he just wanted to plant more trees because he believes an overabundance of fertilizer is killing his other trees, said he regrets that the dispute led to mediation, spending almost $2,000 on lawyer and mediator costs. But the reason he agreed to pre-suit mediation was to avoid going to court.