When is a Tree a Nuisance

[Inpa]

My question involves real estate located in the State of: Pennsylvania.

My neighbor of one year has approached me demanding that I trim tree branches that ovehang his yard, at my cost. I informed him that he is welcome to trim the portion that hangs over his property (at his cost), but that is not suitable to him. The reason he offered was that the branches were "dirtying and staining his new patio" (an extension of an exisiting one). He claims this is a "nuisance", and that I am finacially reponsible for trimming the branches. It is noteworthy that he has trees whose branches also overhang the patio, that he has not trimmed (the height of all branches would require professional trimming), further bringing into question the validity of the "nuisance" claim. Possibly worth mentioning is that when the said patio was extended approximately three weeks ago, no local permits were displayed at the residence at any time, as required (although I have not checked with the township to verify if any permits were pulled). All trees involved have trunks that are definitively on one property or the other (no border trees). The 40-year old trees were present when he purchased the property, are in good health, and present no foreseeable damage, other than the aforementioned "dirt". I have discussed this issue with him, and he seems intent on not negotiating. Does he have valid legal ground to support his contention that I must remove the branches at my cost, against my will, or is this a ruse of a bully?

[LandSurveyor]

Not much to go on in PA but you might start with this case:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_ca...=2,36&as_vis=1

[Inpa]

Thank you for your response LandSuveyor. As an update to my post, I checked with my township and was told that no permits were obtained for the address, for any construction, in the last year. When I explained my situation, the poignant response I received was "Tell them to talk to you when they have a legal patio". LOL If this does progress, I would like to think that any reasonable, prudent person would consider that they have not trimmed their own branches, which intermingle with mine, yet want me to pay- a questionable demand that I suspect someone is asserting for tree trimming expenses on me. Hopefully, it would also be questioned if tree droppings would be considered "substantial" damage to concrete (which would seem cosmetic, at best, considering an existing portion of concrete has been their for almost 40 years with no structural damage).

Thanks again for the information.