Help with very basic construction, generalized building code info?

It seems to me she should have obtained a building permit before beginning, posted in full view. She should have submitted a set of plans to the appropriate engineering dept to get an approval to start. It’s for the benefit of the abutters and the person doing the work, lest they spend 1000’s of dollars to be told mid way through they have to stop. It depends on your local codes and they might be different city to city. I don’t think anyone would be permitted to do anything on their property that will negatively affect adjacent properties.
It looks like she wants a retaining wall for some reason, possibly to control erosion. Or maybe to use as a footing for a privacy fence.
I think setback is the distance from city easements or right of ways that cannot be encroached on. Here is something on what unbalanced fill is. http://www.doityourself.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-308617.html

Call the town immediately and ask if a Grading Permit is needed. This is why they were invented.

Whether or not your neighbor installs a berm, and without even knowing if she needs a building permit for that or not, she obviously wants to stop drainage from your driveway into her back yard. That’s understandable, isn’t it?

So let’s say that she needs permits to make this permanent structure and can’t obtain them. There is no reason (and no permit required) why she can’t effect the same result by simply laying a course of cinderblock or brick along the property line. She can do that today, right now, and as long as it’s not a retaining wall and she doesn’t put any fill behind it, there’s nothing you can do to stop that. So consider: The runoff from your driveway won’t be going into her yard any more. She can stop that.

It seems to me that your effort now should be put into: How can we redirect the runoff from our driveway to a place that isn’t noxious to either of us? Can you run a drain line along your driveway and into your own back yard? To the street? Without knowing the configuration of the property it’s impossible to make workable suggestions.

It’s clear that she objects to runoff from your driveway, though, and unless you can work with her to come up with a workable solution for both of you (and probably share some of the cost of doing that), then you’re going to have to come up with a drainage solution for yourself, all by yourselves.

Here’s one possible suggestion: Assuming she has a permit to build the berm, it may be possible for you to combine some kind of French drain from the side of your driveway to the base of her berm, which will drain the runoff to a place that you and she can agree upon.

I’d talk to her and the City Engineer.

@woodcutter Thanks for the link about unbalanced fill. I know what set-back is but the rules vary based on what this thing she’s constructing is – a fence, structure, ???

I guess I will go ahead and contact the County tomorrow. Thanks for the help with some basics.

@worriedguy Would this be considered grading or building?

@CWOTUS Everything was fine for 30+ years… until she got mad at us and went on a rant to our neighbors about legal water runoff diversion measures we had taken. We spent more time and money to change everything in order to accommodate her requests – we did not have to and we never would have if we knew she would be so nasty regardless. It cost us a lot of extra money.

Most of the problem comes from the fact that she directed runoff from her property onto ours when she included installing a berm on her side of our driveway as part of ‘helping’ the 90 y/o lady, who previously owned our house, have it repaired for resale. If she hadn’t done that at the top of the property, we wouldn’t be dealing with problems at the bottom. We could always remove that berm or put in another berm higher up or sandbag our driveway during heavy rains, but I really don’t feel like heading down this path.

I’m not very sympathetic to her plight considering we were outside dealing with an entire backyard and driveway of standing water while she was out there bitching about some standing water in her bushes at the back 3 ft. of her property. I just hate it that her nondescript shrubs may get too much water – I’ll worry about getting the car out of the garage without flooding our basement later.

I called the county and they don’t know what the hell to call it, either, which means regulations are up in the air. One thought retaining wall until she heard it will only 6” high. Another person thought it might be a dam. Building & planning sent me to storm water management, who referred me to building & planning. (Surprising, no?)

We’re just going to let her build it then ask for a code compliance evaluation afterward. We’ll do what we have to do if it gets the okay or she’ll have to take it out if it doesn’t.

I can’t imagine what would happen if everyone down the hill put one of these up in their back yards.

Your neighbor will be responsible for any damage to your property that is a result of her building project. It is in both of your best interests to insist that drainage water be carefully handled. It is usually also part of the building codes but I also know that rural counties don’t always update their standards and codes.

This sounds like a project that requires engineering before building begins and I doubt that the average general contractors is up to the task. It would be faster and cheaper to consult a civil engineer before the project is started. You might want to mention this to your neighbor before lawyers become involved. I personally would rather spend a few hundred dollars for an engineer than be sucked dry by lawyers.