Letter: Neighbor’s fireplace makes a smoky nightmare

EDITOR,
Fall is in the air and normally I look forward to this lovely time of year. Not anymore. You see, I live in a mobile home park and last year my neighbor installed a wood burning stove. Due to the fact that he is slightly downhill from me, the smoke from his chimney is about level with my front door and windows. When he burns, the smoke comes through my windows and fills my home. I have tried closing all my windows, but if I have to turn on my heater, the smoke is actually circulated through my house! It’s horrible! I have suggested to my neighbor that since he is downhill from me if he were to add a couple lengths of pipe to his chimney it would probably reduce or even solve the problem. Unfortunately, this man is still unhappy with me for complaining when he started repairing Harley Davidson motorcycles in his carport directly next to my porch and living room. So he is not about to do me any favors. He said his chimney is to code and that’s that. Generally, I just don’t feel mobile home parks lend themselves to wood burning stoves because of the proximity of the residences. Management has said since my neighbor’s chimney is indeed to code there is nothing they can do. So I will spend this fall and winter breathing my neighbor’s chimney smoke. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions.
Virginia Miller, Scotts Valley