INTERMEDIATE DISTANCES AND WORKS FOR CERTAIN CONSTRUCTIONS AND PLANTINGS

Art. 677. No constructions can be built or plantings made near fortified places or fortresses without compliance with the conditions required in special laws, ordinances, and regulations relating thereto. (589)

Art. 678. No person shall build any aqueduct, well, sewer, furnace, forge, chimney, stable, depository of corrosive substances, machinery, or factory which by reason of its nature or products is dangerous or noxious, without observing the distances prescribed by the regulations and customs of the place, and without making the necessary protective works, subject, in regard to the manner thereof, to the conditions prescribed by such regulations. These prohibitions cannot be altered or renounced by stipulation on the part of the adjoining proprietors.

In the absence of regulations, such precautions shall be taken as may be considered necessary, in order to avoid any damage to the neighboring lands or tenements. (590a)

NO WAIVER ALLOWED

• By reason of public safety

Art. 679. No trees shall be planted near a tenement or piece of land belonging to another except at the distance authorized by the ordinances or customs of the place, and, in the absence thereof, at a distance of at least two meters from the dividing line of the estates if tall trees are planted and at a distance of at least fifty centimeters if shrubs or small trees are planted. Every landowner shall have the right to demand that trees hereafter planted at a shorter distance from his land or tenement be uprooted.

The provisions of this article also apply to trees which have grown spontaneously. (591a)

RULES WITH RESPECT TO THE PLANTING OF TREES

1. Tall trees—2 meters from boundary line to center of tree
2. Small trees or shrubs—50 centimeters from boundary line to center of tree or shrub

REMEDY FOR VIOLATION

• Demand uprooting of the tree or shrub

Art. 680. If the branches of any tree should extend over a neighboring estate, tenement, garden or yard, the owner of the latter shall have the right to demand that they be cut off insofar as they may spread over his property, and, if it be the roots of a neighboring tree which should penetrate into the land of another, the latter may cut them off himself within his property. (592)

RULES REGARDING INTRUSIONS OR EXTENSIONS OF BRANCHES

AND ROOTS

1. Branches—adjacent owner has the right to demand that they be cut off
2. Roots—he may cut them off himself

PRESCRIPTION

1. Of the right to demand the cutting off the branches—this doesn’t prescribe if tolerated by invaded owner
2. Of the right to cut off the roots—this is imprescriptible unless a notarial prohibition is made

RIGHT OF THE OWNER OF THE TREE

 The owner of the tree even if the branches and roots have invaded the adjacent land can cut down the tree himself for he owns the trees

Art. 681. Fruits naturally falling upon adjacent land belong to the owner of said land. (n)

RULES AS TO FRUITS

1. If the fruits still hang on the tree, they are still owned by the tree owner
2. It is only after they have naturally fallen that they belong to the owner of the invaded land