Caught between their rightful ownership and the emotional attachment of the community, the couple faces a storm of criticism and confrontation. This is a story of boundaries tested, expectations shattered, and the complex dance between personal necessity and communal sentiment.
So me and my fiance recently bought a house.
The house has a plot of land next to it where a 2 car garage that burnt down a few years ago used to stand.
The previous owner rather then rebuilding the garage decide to build a small playground on the land for the neighborhood kids to use.
Apparently it became pretty popular.
But seeing as we do not have kids and have no plan to have them. We have no use for the playground.
So when me and my fiance moved in we quickly took the playground down. We are planning to rebuild a new garage as it something we really need.
This cause a small uproar with parents in the neighborhood. We some yelling at us telling use we we can’t take it down as it part of the neighborhood.
One neighbor even tried to call the police claiming destructivson of public property.
From what I heard she wa told it wasn’t on public property it was on our property and we can do as we please.
We been getting a lot of crappy from some of the neighbors but honestly we have many reason to not want this playground.
1. I have work.long nights as a nurse and usally only get few hours of sleep during the day. And this may make me sound like a monsters but I do not want kid’s scream and playing in my yard well I’m trying to sleep.
2. There is liability if the kid get injury or worst. We could get in a lot of trouble.
3. It is a complete eye sore. This is not some professional store bought playground. It was made using old equipment that the previous owner and some of the neighbors found. Most of the equipment was very old and rusty.
Which again can get me into trouble if one of the kid get sick or Injuried.
So AITA for taking down a neighborhood play ground.
Conclusion
The original poster (OP) and their fiancée removed a playground built on their private property for neighborhood use, citing needs for sleep, liability concerns, and aesthetic dissatisfaction. This action led to conflict with neighbors who expected the amenity to remain, highlighting a clash between private property rights and established community benefit.
Was the OP justified in removing an amenity from their private property that was being used by the community, or did the prior implied agreement and neighborhood benefit create an ethical obligation to maintain it? This situation forces a decision between personal needs/property rights and community expectations.
Here’s how people reacted:
Insurance hates things like this and pools and trampolines because someone always gets hurt and then a suit happens and what could literally be 0 fault of their insured they still have to pay. Like if a neighbour trespassed on your property to let their kids swim without permission and one of them drowned? Yeah, you STILL could be on the hook because it’s an “attractive nuisance”.
It’s your property. And you are 100p on point with the liability concern. When we bought our first house the previous owners had kids and it was a hassle to get the rest of the neighbourhood kids to stop running through our yard as they thought they should still be able to. We finally built a fence. I may or may not have had a drawn out back and forth with a 12yr old that I’m allowed to build a fence on my own property (not my most mature moment). Thanlfully I didn’t have the wrath of the neighbourhood parents. Good luck and stand your ground.
No idea how to handle the neighbors but you can’t leave it up to appease them. Is the playground still intact anywhere? Maybe one of them will be willing to put it up on their lawn instead (they won’t but hopefully it helps them understand your point)
I’m going NAH tentatively, but can go NTA to any parent or kid who’s more than a little angry at you and doesn’t chill….I give some time for initial sour grapes but anything more than that goes into asshole territory.
Just because someone told someone else it was public property doesn’t make it true. It is on your land you are entitled to do what you want with it. 🤷🏼‍♀️ if the neighborhood is so upset about it they can get together and build one on their own properties. Or push for a public one to be built close by.
I might be considered heartless, but you need your sleep especially during these times. If the neighbour keeps on harassing you, report them for harassment. There’s also the fact those people won’t hesitate to blame you if their children got hurt on your property based on how they reacted.
You had every right, and some good reasons.
But you still removed what was probably a really popular and loved playground that kids used, so your an asshole.
This is one of those where your the asshole, but for good reasons
The entitlement! It was something the previous owners did and you are under no obligation to continue to do so and put yourself at risk. For them to call the cops is ridiculous.
Morally? bankrupt
Refer to [this post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/d6xoro/meta_this_sub_is_moving_towards_a_value_system/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)