LAND USE CONTROLS (PART 1): BY THE COURTS

Consider: Maria prides herself on her gardening skills. Her social skills, however, leave much to be desired. In fact, Maria recently surrounded her property with a ten foot concrete wall. Her justification was that, on her East, her neighbor Ellie had four children and their incessant playing bothered Maria, and anyway, Ellie always complained about Maria’s constant use of fertilizers and bug sprays on her garden. As to her Western neighbor, Wanda, well, Maria just didn’t like Wanda and knew that the wall would annoy Wanda to no end. Ellie and Wanda sue Maria, claiming that the wall is a nuisance (both in appearance and for blocking light) and asking the court to order that the wall be removed. Why might a court require the removal of the wall beside Wanda’s property, but not the wall separating Maria’s property from Ellie?