Elon vs the NIMBYs

Finally, a story of West Austin NIMBYism that will warm your heart. He may have bribed or bullied regulators, presidents and Congress into submission, but Elon Musk is no match for a West Lake homeowners association.

From the New York Times:

At first, residents of the upscale cul-de-sac in West Lake Hills, Texas, did not know who had moved into the 6,900-square-foot, six-bedroom mansion next door.

Then construction workers arrived to erect a 16-foot chain-link fence around the $6 million property, which is one of four homes on the leafy street. They also installed an outward-facing camera. Next, a fleet of cars — many of them Teslas — began parking on the street. Three times a day, a shift change signaled security personnel coming and going at the house. Once, the driver of a passing car shouted late at night that he was looking for a party at “E’s house.”

No one liked the commotion, or the traffic, or the keypad-activated gate opening and closing for workers and cars at all hours. So even when they learned through word of mouth that their new neighbor was Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, that did not stop some of them from grousing to the City of West Lake Hills about his mansion.

The complaints have since escalated into an uproar over city ordinances, permits and exceptions known as variances — so much so that the matter of Mr. Musk’s house landed in a contentious Zoning and Planning Commission meeting last month. The debate is headed next to a West Lake Hills City Council session, scheduled for May 14.

The other day I was talking to a friend who wondered if Musk might help the city of Austin claw back the $105M federal grant for the I-35 cap that Republicans in Congress are poised to scrap. LOL, I replied. Musk is no more attentive to his community than he is to his (likely) dozens of children.