What? No Monster Home reference?

Articles dealing with neighbors fighting over housing construction is a perennial favorite. In addition to zoning regulations the issue usually seems to be what level of oversight does the person not building a house have over the person doing the building. Palo Alto has seen a number of these because most of the houses being replaced are one story homes being replaced with a two story homes. Todd and Kathy Reece of Palo Alto are in such a situation. They don't want their neighbor building a house they feel will intrude on their privacy. Leaving aside the merits of their claim I found humor in the photo used with the story. Kathy Reese summons all of her poor-me acting talent to convey a profound sense of injustice. Her neighbor will undoubtedly find more than just constuction problems living next to the Reese's.

In a parallel development (pun intended) two doctors are fighting over construction in Menlo Park. Larry Morrill is an orthodontist who is suing Robert Carlson an oncologist over Carlson's effort to build a second story on his garage which borders Morrill's property. Adding interest to the story is the fact that they had offices across from one another for eight years. Sort of makes any effort for world peace seem unattainable.