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You're implying that in purchasing a property you acquire a perpetual right to the sunlight that exists on the day you purchased. There is no such right. If t

You're implying that in purchasing a property you acquire a perpetual right to the sunlight that exists on the day you purchased. There is no such right. If this gardener wanted to retain that sunlight, they should have purchased the lot next door, put a building-height covenant on it, and resold it. They would incur a loss due to the covenant, but that is the cost of legally gaining the right to that sunlight.

dagw 9y ago
There is no such right. Perhaps not in California, but it's worth noting that some places, England being among the forefront in this[0], do recognize the right to light is an important property right. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_light https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_light
makomk 9y ago
Ultimately, if buyers believed that it would be necessary to go to that extent to to maintain sunlight in their own back garden, the original developer would've done so and we'd just end up talking about how states should override covenants instead in the HN comments about how people shouldn't have a right to sunlight.
athenot 9y ago
Solar easements exist in many jurisdictions now (typically for solar panels). For Georgia: https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-44/chapter-9/article-2 https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-44/chapter-9...
xapata 9y ago
While it's possible for any individual to put a price on just about anything, it ain't always easy (as you just explained). We've decided that it's the government's responsibility to help put a price on some of these ineffables -- air quality, etc. For a well-functioning market that doesn't get bothered by protests and other political machinations, the government needs to provide an easy mechanism to pay for whatever it is you care about. Any market which is restricted to folks who can afford high-cost lawyers and custom legal contracts, that market will be inefficient. Saying, "put a building-height covenant on it" in effect means "let's spend money and time on political advertisements and protests so neither of us are happy."

dagw 9y ago

There is no such right. Perhaps not in California, but it's worth noting that some places, England being among the forefront in this[0], do recognize the right to light is an important property right. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_light https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_light

makomk 9y ago

Ultimately, if buyers believed that it would be necessary to go to that extent to to maintain sunlight in their own back garden, the original developer would've done so and we'd just end up talking about how states should override covenants instead in the HN comments about how people shouldn't have a right to sunlight.

athenot 9y ago

Solar easements exist in many jurisdictions now (typically for solar panels). For Georgia: https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-44/chapter-9/article-2 https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-44/chapter-9...

xapata 9y ago

While it's possible for any individual to put a price on just about anything, it ain't always easy (as you just explained). We've decided that it's the government's responsibility to help put a price on some of these ineffables -- air quality, etc. For a well-functioning market that doesn't get bothered by protests and other political machinations, the government needs to provide an easy mechanism to pay for whatever it is you care about. Any market which is restricted to folks who can afford high-cost lawyers and custom legal contracts, that market will be inefficient. Saying, "put a building-height covenant on it" in effect means "let's spend money and time on political advertisements and protests so neither of us are happy."