Can we be adult about shrubbery?

Is there anyone who would say it is OK for some government

official to come onto a person’s private property and order shrubbery

trimmed or a hedge lowered?

In Laguna Beach that scenario seems to be becoming necessary. Now

the City Council is considering an ordinance that would restrict the

height of certain hedges.

Many people in Laguna have hedges, bushes and trees because they

love nature and they value their privacy. They want their yard to be

their sanctuary, or at least comfortable. That seems to be the case

the majority of the time.

But not all the time. And that is where the problem starts. A few

people seem to be using their shrubbery and trees to purposefully

block the view of neighbors they have a conflict with. Others simply

don’t care if their greenery blocks someone else’s view. There are

also neighbors who are just picky, they want their neighbor’s yard to

meet their specifications without consideration for that neighbor.

The current regulation says neighbors first have to talk with each

other to make a compromise. Why can’t that be enough?

Instead, James Madison’s words come hurdling toward Laguna: “If

men were angels, no government would be necessary.”

We’re hardly angels. We fight over petty issues that should boil

down to how do you want to live your life: In conflict or peace? As a

decent-hearted person or a spiteful, unthoughtful neighbor?

The issue also brings to mind an often-spoken thought of Oprah

Winfrey about how we can expect world peace when we can’t even get

along with our next door neighbor.

Now the issue is being decided by the City Council. The Planning

Commission voted not to recommend the hedge ordinance. Then, on

Tuesday, council members voted 4-0 (Paul Freeman was absent) to

approve the second reading of the ordinance, keeping it alive for a

future vote. It will go before the council at a future meeting.

No matter what the final decision from the council is, the fact

that legislation is even necessary is a sad reflection on how petty

some people can be and how little we’ve learned as a society about

how to get along.