Greetings, all. The entire length of the retaining wall built between my house and the home next door in 1954 doesn't follow the actual property line. However, previous owners on both sides have maintained their yards and trees according to the boundary implied by the wall and the difference in elevation on either side of it (1 to 3 feet). The actual property line follows the wall to a certain point, then runs at a slight angle to the wall, creating a long, extremely narrow triangle that's perhaps 60 feet long and no more than 3 feet at its widest point.

The new owner next door intends to squeeze a driveway between the houses and plans to move a portion of the existing retaining wall about a foot toward my house to claim more space for the new driveway. My property is about a foot or so higher than his in that area, and the foot of space he intends to create will cut into what little buffer I have between the retaining wall and my own driveway. The change will make it even more difficult for larger vehicles, such as delivery trucks or even something on the scale of a Suburban to easily serve my house.

In addition, part of the fence he plans to build will lie on top of a portion of the retaining wall, but would ultimately deny me use of a sliver of property, formed by that narrow triangle I just described--and that little piece of land is pretty important to me. (I used to garden in that part of the yard before I got cancer a couple of years ago, and there's a well-established chipmunk burrow next to the wall, and we treat our chipmunks like pets and train them to take peanuts from our hands.)

Based on the past use of the property according to the boundary established by the wall, is there anything I can do to stop his driveway and fence projects? I've owned my home for about 11 1/2 years, and the house next door, until now, has always been used as a rental property, so no one has ever challenged the use of the wall as the boundary. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer. -- Steve

Actually, a fence NEVER establishes a boundary line, unless it is a shared-ownership fence. A fence put up by one property owner must be entirely on his land.

Only a survey can determine the actual property line. Your neighbor has no right to alter anything on your side of the line.

Since it is a retaining wall, the reason it was put there must be determined, as well as whose property it is on. It could be these possibilities:

1. Your property was raised by adding fill dirt. In that case, it is probably your wall.

2. His property was lowered by cutting dirt away. In that case, it is probably his.

3. The original developer put it up, in which case it might have been there before the land was platted. In that case, you own and control the portion on your land.

It is obviously there to prevent erosion. And disturbing it might cause a lot of erosion.

But your neighbor has absolutely NO right to do anything to your property, including removing the wall and letting your land fall onto his. And he certainly can't build a fence on your land.

Check the deeds and the surveys in the recorder's office. The wall should be included in the plat surveys if they were redone since the wall was built.

One possibility is to agree to level out the land between the two parts, and remove the wall.

Also check your building and zoning department. It might be illegal to disturb the wall for environmental reasons.