Industrial-residential mix causes conflicts in Sunnyvale

"Weatherill and Cheung admit that they took a risk in assuming that the property next door would be used for homes. Weatherill was aware of the noisy generators, but claims he would not have bought if the water tank had been there."

I'm going to have to side with Industry on this one. If you buy in an ITR, there's a reason you're getting a relative discount. The same property on the other side of 101 (or Central, or El Camino, moving progressively South) would be at least 15% to 30% higher in cost.

Don't blame the folks that were there before you if you don't like the neighborhood.

Eh. If a resident stuck up a 15' tall water tank on the other side of your home's fence, he'd require a permit, and he'd be subjected to rather strict scrutiny from Planning. The planning commission only recently reviewed (and I think rejected) a 10' high wooden trellis on residential property, for instance.

The tank in question was put up on industrial property true, but on a *parking lot*, quite literally outside a neighboring house's window. It was reasonable for the neigbors to assume that the parking lot portion of the neighboring space would remain a parking lot. I see both sides of this, but I'm leaning towards the residents.

But I believe that the industrial space owners have planted trees along the fence, which should eventually conceal the tank.