Irritating Life Changing Neighbors

Louis Cherry of Raleigh,NC had applied for and received a building permit for a home that he had designed and was building in a historically designated region of the city. Cherry, an architect, after completing the construction of 80% of his dream house came to realize he had a neighbor from hell. The meddler and apparent curmudgeon apparently believes their opinion of what constitutes code violations supersedes a legally obtained building permit. Any opposition to the homes erection should have been voiced before it was almost complete and 100,000 dollars had been spent! What follows is a snippet from local newspaper

His neighbor appealed the decision, saying the house did not follow the historic guidelines. Cherry says he was aware of the complaint but was told by the city that the appeal was procedural and not a threat to the project.

Last month, the Board of Adjustment agreed with the neighbor and overturned the approval. By that time, the house was 80 percent built, according to the homeowners, who had already sunk $100,000 worth of building materials into the new home.

"It's absolutely tragic," George Smart, executive director of North Carolina Modernist Houses, told Yahoo Homes. "Because the couple followed all the rules, they submitted all the paperwork, they followed the instructions, and then one neighbor intervened in a way that could put their house in jeopardy."