Dispute over tree trimming between Dallas neighbors leads to "threatening" art installations
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — A dispute over tree trimming between two North Dallas residents has turned into something code enforcement officers say they have never seen before.
Jeannie Trebisky recalls the moment when she walked out into her backyard and saw eyes staring at her from what her next-door neighbor calls an art installation.
"My heart stopped because all I could see were these eyes staring at me," Trebisky said.
She says it's retaliation for trimming her neighbor's crepe myrtles, which where hanging over the fence above her pool and dropping their flowering leaves. "It's just very disturbing and I googled the pictures to see what they mean...one of the captions that came up is, 'Be prepared to be very scared,' and to me, that's threatening."
The North Dallas grandmother who lives alone says she had a legal right to trim the trees and that her neighbor didn't object at the time.
But her neighbor, who declined an interview, told CBS News Texas off camera the tree trimming went way too far and exposed her backyard patio to anyone who may want to look down onto it from Trebisky's upstairs window.
"She's afraid of me looking in her yard, which I'm not," Trebisky said.
After it happened, her neighbor placed signs along the fence inside the backyard of Trebisky, who immediately took them down.
But soon, she woke up to three large murals of eyes installed on top of the fence.
Dallas code enforcement officers declared them illegal graffiti and ordered them removed. But, again, they were replaced...this time, by silk screen images that Trebisky says the city still hasn't ruled on.
"It's just anxiety every morning," she said. "I mean, you can't even enjoy your backyard when you see something like this."
Trebisky says the creepy images have scared her grandkids and even her dog.
And civil attorney Jeremy Wilson believes it violates private nuisance laws.
"I think there's an argument here," Wilson said. "[It's] very likely that this person has created a nuisance. There seems to be no utility to this artwork other than to annoy and harass her neighbor, and I think that might be a remedy for her."
If the city doesn't force the installations to come down, Trebisky claims she is prepared to file a lawsuit and go to court.