Home at Havasu Palms The Myth of a Forever Lake View

Bobbi Holmes
October 25, 2007

           I like to say Lake Havasu City is the city with the lake view.  And it is.  Just drive around town, look westward, and chances are, you’ll see Lake Havasu.  When people move here, they often look for a home with a lake view. 

Home at Havasu Palms

          Our home doesn’t have a lake view.  It doesn’t bother me, after all, when I am driving around town the lake is always there, in plain view.  But the real reason, it wasn’t a priority. Our family lived on the California side of the lake for many years, and during that time, we had the most amazing, close up lake view, that it would be impossible to replace. So why try?
          But as real estate agents, we still have clients who insist on purchasing a home with a lake view.  Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a forever lake view, which is something a buyer needs to understand.  If the view is the primary reason for buying, will you still be happy if it disappears?
          One such loss of a lake view happened to some good friends of ours, and was recently brought before the Lake Havasu City council. From their living room window, you could once see a panoramic view of Lake Havasu. 

There was no reason to believe that would ever change, after all, there were no vacant lots in that direction, and the home right next door was on a much lower level. In fact, you couldn’t even see the neighbor’s backyard when standing at the window.
         But then new neighbors moved. The new neighbors planted trees along the property line.  Trees.  As in a hedge of trees.  Trees that grew very fast, and would soon create a solid hedge, blocking forever our friend’s beautiful lake view.

          According to city ordinances, hedges located near the set backs can not exceed 5 or 6 feet. When our friend complained to the city, they were told that trees (even planted so close together) were not classified as a hedge.
          The sad thing, the neighbor would still have his privacy if he kept his hedge to hedge height, and our friend would still have his view.  Unfortunately, neighbors are not always neighborly.