Brickbat: I Think That I Shall Never See

BaseballBacks / photo on flickr

In Washington, the Clyde Hill Board of Adjustment ordered Bruce and Linda Baker to remove a Chinese pine and a Colorado spruce from their yard. Former baseball player John Olerud had complained the trees ruined the view from his house. Even though the trees were there when Olerud moved in, the board ruled that his property would be more valuable if they were removed, so it ordered them cut down.

Comments

[Lost_In_Translation]

Pure naked cronyism, how I missed thee.

[Xenocles]

Does having a douchebag live next to you reduce your property value?

[Alan]

Yes. My valuation of Seattle has just been reduced by about 120 billion dollars.

[WTF]

The Chinese pine's value is estimated at more than $18,000.

Sounds like a 'taking' for which the owner is entitled to compensation.

[Cdr Lytton]

I thinking that tree would make some nice toothpicks upon which the board could sit their decision. Olerud too.

[Xenocles]

Perhaps Olerud should be [sunglasses] riding the pine.

[BoscoH]

YYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

[Suthenboy]

This is why I live way the hell out in the country away from everyone.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...the board ruled that his property would be more valuable if they were removed, so it ordered them cut down.

Doesn't the removal of the trees make that property less valuable? I guess the Bakers found out how valued they are in relation to other homeowners.

[Ted S.]

Fuck you, that's why.

[JW]

COASECOASECOASECOASECOASE
COASECOASECOASECOASECOASE
COASECOASECOASECOASECOASE

[LTC(ret) John]

Man, if ever someone needed to be told "fuck off, slavers" it seems to be the the Clyde Hill Board of Adjustment (and Olerud).

[Alan]

Never heard the name of Olerud before, but I know its disgusting sound now.

[wareagle]

screw the board and Olerud, and hire a lawyer. They're trees that predated the arrival of a marginal ballplayer, not some eyesore the owner put up last week.

[KDN]

Marginal? Johnny Helmet was one of the better first basemen of his era.

If you really want to have fun, point out how Olerud had a better career than Mattingly to a Yankee fan. I've been making that argument since Olerud got to Seattle, it never fails to induce massive amounts of rage.

[WTF]

Olerud is also a giant douche, so he's got that going for him as well.

[Heroic Mulatto]

I'm a Yankees fan and I'd agree with that, though Olerud has 3 more years when calculating the stats.

[WTF]

It's not really all that clear-cut, anyway. It partly depends on what metrics you use for comparison.

[KDN]

Olerud is also a giant douche, so he's got that going for him as well.

He always kind of was. This news isn't all that surprising.

I'm a Yankees fan and I'd agree with that, though Olerud has 3 more years when calculating the stats.

It's less controversial now, but when I first started doing it Mattingly was about to come up for his HOF vote and the more excitable Yanks fans were apoplectic that anyone could keep Donnie Baseball out. While it was fun, caucusing with Met and Sox fans on the issue did make me feel quite dirty.

It's not really all that clear-cut, anyway. It partly depends on what metrics you use for comparison.

That link is pretty clear cut, imo. Mattingly had a better peak, but Olerud's is close enough, he played longer, and his eye and defense were quite a bit better (though I hesitate to use dWAR as an argument for first basemen).

[Rich]

An appraiser hired by John and Kelly Olerud said their $4 million home would be worth $255,000 more if the rare Chinese pine and the Colorado spruce across the street were cut down

And an appraiser hired by Bruce and Linda Baker said the Olerud's $4 million home would be worth $666,000 more if the rare Chinese pine and the Colorado spruce were trimmed into flip-off-shaped topiary.

[Romulus Augustus]

A local homeowner asked the Planning Commission to change the solar power ordinance to allow those installing panels to be able to force contiguous property owners to trim or remove landscaping that blocked sunlight to his panels. We politely told him we weren't about to destroy property rights for the sake of someone's alternative energy hobby.

[Copernicus]

The IRONIKAL thing is that if Olerud wasn't the neighbor, but Bruce and Linda Baker had decided on their own to cut down those trees, the Board of Adjustment would have prevented them from doing so due to the tremendous age and value of those precious natural objects.

The important thing is that the Board demonstrates that it is the boss of your property.

[SKR]

this^^^^

[Bones]

The comments section was back and forth between "it's just a tree" and "Olerud is a douchebag." I read two pages before stopping but no one mentioned how this is the fault of the government agency that ordered it cut down. Olerud had no power over the neighbor. He commissioned the agency who should have said "No" and sent him on his way.

[Alan]

There are many who share the blame, but it is people like Olerud who keep pushing for such privileges at the expense of others.