Backyard basketball enclosure?

A neighbor is turning his entire brownstone backyard into a basketball court. Twenty-foot poles are going up to support overhead netting. Is this legal? (We’re in Cobble Hill.)

olive

in Building Code 13 years and 3 months ago

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Miguel | 13 years and 2 months ago

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I’ve seen an example of this somewhere (can’t remember), and it does indeed look god-awful, not to mention the noise factor. I don’t actually know about this particular item, but I do know that DOB building code issues do exend to backyards – for example a new deck can only be so wide & deep, or can only extend so far into the yard. And there are regulations regarding fence height. You’re best off contacting an attorney or calling the DOB.

Brooklynista | 13 years and 2 months ago

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Sorry for the double post.  I guess I really needed to rant out loud on this one! 🙂

Brooklynista | 13 years and 2 months ago

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OMG, I feel your pain!  Our next door neighbor did exactly this same thing a few weeks ago (minus the netting) and I’ve been going looney over the noise!  Plus, because there’s no netting, the ball is constantly landing in our backyard.  There are adolescent male youngsters in our neighbor’s  household and they invite their friends over to play.  Nice family, nice boys.  But, this basketball court in their backyard is driving me up the wall. Yes, we could talk to the neighbors about it, but it’s really not worth it. Its just another insensitive, obnoxious  “home improvement” of theirs in a long line of same; previous complaints have only served to create aggravating tension. At this point, it’s easier to just  retreat to another room in the front of the house the minute I hear that ball start thudding.  Sigh

olive | 13 years and 2 months ago

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Yes, this is happening on a landmark block, in an interior block of green trees and gardens and, apart from a couple of legal extensions, nothing at all like this. The poles are up and are twice the height of the fences that they abut. Maybe high poles with netting attached will count as (illegal) fencing?

mike-the-expeditor | 13 years and 3 months ago

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The original poster did not indicate if he or she is on a Landmarks block.  There are parts of Cobble Hill that aren’t part of the Landmarks district.

edifice-rex | 13 years and 3 months ago

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Resurfacing the yard or adding any permanent stucture is at the very least a Landmarks violation. Most people don’t realise it but LPC has jurisdiction over the addittion or removal of any intrinsic park of the exterior of a property not just the building. Plantings are excluded, any structure, fence, paving or earth moving is not.

brownstonebiff | 13 years and 3 months ago

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OH this sounds awful. Both aesthetically and noise-wise. Do you know your neighbor? What’s the story? Kids? Someone who doesn’t care about being a good neighbor? It may be legal but it sounds obnoxious. I would call 311 and ask them to point you in the right direction.

olive | 13 years and 3 months ago

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It looks like it will be open netting to keep balls from going into neighboring yards, with the netting held up by these six 15-20-ft poles around the perimeter.

mike-the-expeditor | 13 years and 3 months ago

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While there is nothing (ostensibly) wrong with re-surfacing your backyard, I don’t understand the purpose of a net 20 feet above ground.   Is the net opaque (e.g. I wouldn’t be able to see the basketball court in a satellite or aerial photo)?