Neighbor want to plant shrubbery that will block my view.

My new neighbor began renovations on their 100 yr house last fall. They asked us to go with them to have the city to bury the electric. In order to do this our bushes on the property line needed to be removed. The neighbor assured us that they would replace them with similar. We told them that our only request was that the shrubs not be tall enough to block our windows. They said they would work with us. We agreed with their request to remove our bushes and run the electric underground. Now that this is done, we have the electric box for both houses in our back yard and the required guy wire for the electric pole in our front yard and they have decided that they want to plant tall bushes for privacy. Is there any thing we can do to prevent this?

You may want to check with your city/municipality and determine if a utility easement now exists as a result of burying the power lines. It may involve a width of 5 feet or so (for example) onto each of your properties, for access to the utility lines. If that's the case, your neighbor may not be able to plant anything within the allotted space. You may also want to get a current survey (could cost quite a bit) to make certain any bushes aren't planted on your property, if the city ends up with no current restrictions. You have a right to insist your neighbors don't encroach onto your property line with any kind of improvement, much less bushes that require your maintenance. You may not have a say in the height, but you don't have to spend your time maintaining the growth onto your property .. unless of course, you choose to.

In answer to your question, if no easement restrictions exist and the bushes are planted on your neighbor's lot, I doubt there's much you can do to control the height, regardless of your prior discussions.

Good luck.

Thanks! Obviously, I got screwed while bending over backwards to help a new neighbor. They better hope they don't need anything else from us, cause it won't happen.

You're welcome. Yes, I'd agree it appears you've been taken advantage of, even though you did reap a certain benefit from the relocation of the lines. I don't know if I'd personally be visible at the time of replanting, but I would double check to make certain they're planted sufficiently back from the property line that they don't eventually end up encroaching on to my lot.

That being said, you might want to keep something in mind: "privacy" works both ways. Again, good luck.