Georgia law prevents one land owner from causing a nuisance to another land owner, which is defined as anything that causes and annoyance or inconvenience to another property owner in relation to his use of his property.
Stuart Teague has worked with issues affecting land development and land use for more than twenty years and uses a perspective gained from working on land matters for developers, builders, homeowners, city government, and county government to analyze problems due to conflicts in land uses between adjacent or nearby property owners.
The types of cases that involve nuisance claims can involve flooding or increased drainge to a lower land owner due to changes to the grade or vegetation on an upper land owner's tract, tree removals, erosion, noise, pollution, blasting and mining, or smells. A nuisance may also constitute a trespass.
A nuisance need not be monumental or drastic in order for it to affect legal rights of property owners. Problems can occur over time and can seem small or unnoticeable at times. For example, the law defines erosion as "the gradual eating away of the soil by the operation of current or tides; it is a gradual process and, during its occurrence, imperceptible." (CJS WATERS § 184.) A drainage problem caused by one upper landowner's diversion of surface water flows may not be evident during dry conditions or even during rains.
The statute of limitations for a nuisance governs when a land owner must bring a claim. In Georgia, the statute runs four (4) years from the date of the injury to the land. Georgia also recognizes that a nuisance can be continuing and can arise anew each time the interference with property rights occurs. Although the law is complicated, even if a property owner thinks the problem is too old to address it, Georgia law may still recognize the land owner's rights.
The firm of Teague & Chambless, LLLP has extensive experience in working with engineers, land grading contractors, land planners, real estate agents, appraisers and other experts who may be needed to analyze and explain the existence and cause of a nuisance.
Attorneys at the firm have advised clients regarding alleged nuisances from municipal landfills, a rock quarry, pollution, sewerage flows, mudflows, septic issues, drainage and flooding problems, and even rooster breeding by a neighbor of one client. The counties where these claims have occurred, or where they have been brought, recently include the following: Fulton County, Georgia; Forsyth County, Georgia; Cobb County, Georgia; the City of Atlanta, Georgia; Paulding County, Georgia; Pickens County, Georgia; and Gilmer County, Georgia.
