Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Room Addition Will Block View

They will be required to get a building permit, and that will generally mean theat they need to go through the city planning commisssion. Your first step should be to go to the building dept. to see if the neighbor has obtained a permit. Discuss your concerns, and they should be able to give you forms to contest the matter with the building commission.

Re: Room Addition Will Block View

Your problem is not unique mishap in thousands of times throughout the United States. Each municipality in California has its own rules. It also may have its own building department where you can immediately question her ability to a stand onto her present property in the manner planned. My immediate vice is you must get a real estate attorney, hopefully an individual who has dealt with the municipal entity in the past, possibly with a similar problem. Additionally, I do not know what your home could be an area with eight homeowners association. They have specific rules and requirements that may affect this remodel job and your rights to contest. If you wish to talk with me I would be more than happy to do so. IM, as you can see from a profile in northern California. Good luck in your attempt to have the job modified so that your view is not obstructed.

Re: Room Addition Will Block View

In California, there is no general property right to a view. Therefore, telling a court, a planning commission, a building permit office, etc. that a proposed addition will block your view is unlkely to have any effect. The building department must issue the permit if the proposed work conforms to code. It is a ministerial act rather than a discretionary act, to use the language of administrative law.

Nevertheless, it is possible that the proposed addition does not conform to local law, and the reason(s) for non-conformance MIGHT include a local law or policy to protect views. Such a law or policy would be town-specific or neighborhood-specific, and no general answer can be given.

It's also possible that if your neighborhood was developed pursuant to a master plan, and/or there are CC&Rs in the deeds, you may have an enforceable PRIVATE (as opposed to ordinance-derived) right to a viewshed or to sue to prevent the addition. This fact would have to be developed from a review of the neighbor's, and your, chain of title going back to the original subdivision and development.