Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Bratenahl Backyard Tree Plan Ran Into a 10-Foot Height Limit, and Neighbors Raised a 115-Year-Old Sewer Line Before the Nov. 10 Review

Bratenahl’s Architectural Review Board has not signed off on the rear-yard tree plan for the lakefront home owned by Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, and the next chance comes Tuesday, Nov. 10. The delay began at an Oct. 6 meeting, when board members said the proposed trees ran past the village’s 10-foot height limit, 19 News in Cleveland reported.

Neighbors added a worry of their own that night: a 115-year-old sewer line that runs beneath ground the trees would be planted in.

Why the Board Stopped at 10 Feet

The plan was submitted by Tiny Construction LLC for the property, and 19 News previewed the board’s review that same day. Village solicitor Dave Matty said the setback line applies to anything behind the home in this situation, and that the entire front setback already has approval, according to 19 News.

One board member told the applicant that privacy and screening can be achieved with plants under 10 feet tall. The same member called the submission “a screening plan,” not a landscape plan, and suggested varied plant heights, sizes and textures. The member also noted that the bed lines in the photos extended well beyond what the screening plan showed as planted.

Tiny Construction said there had been confusion over the tree restrictions. It told the board it was willing to adjust the plan and follow the law now that it knows about the 10-foot limit.

The Fence the Board Already Approved

The trees are the second step of a larger yard project. Before the October meeting, 19 News reported on Oct. 1 that the couple wanted to replace an existing five-foot fence with a taller one set two feet inside the property line, along with new landscaping and privacy planting.

In early September the board approved the fence as proposed and ruled that the landscaping needed its own separate submission. Before that landscaping plan could return, the station reported, it needed a licensed survey showing the new sewer line, new property boundaries, and the sizes and species of existing trees.

The International Business Times reported that the fence proposal was cut from eight feet to six, and that the board approved the six-foot version in September. It also reported that the board approved front-yard landscaping with conditions meant to give southern-side trees room to mature, but did not approve the rear-yard planting plan as submitted because of the trees’ mature height.

A Neighbor’s 115-Year-Old Sewer Line

Katherine Bolton shares the aging sewer line with the property. She told 19 News she fears new trees planted close to it could damage it, and that she is not opposed to trees but wants a solution that protects the pipe.

The International Business Times reported that Bolton has lived next door for more than 30 years and described a clay line she believes is about a century old. She warned that roots from about 50 proposed evergreens could cause severe damage, and said she had received a $75,000 estimate to line the pipe. The outlet noted that no independent engineering assessment of the risk has been reported.

Jacob Kutz of Tiny Construction presented the plans and said the owners paid $7,500 to replace a broken section of the shared line and had it jetted and cleaned, the same report said. Those figures come from the parties themselves and were not independently verified. Swift’s and Kelce’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Lake Views and Trees Coming Down

Neighbors also raised lost lake views. Chuck Bauernschmidt, who has lived in Bratenahl for 47 years, told 19 News he objects to tree removal.

Bauernschmidt called the vegetation removal “clear-cutting,” according to the International Business Times, which also noted that the extent of any tree removal had not been established in its reporting. Residents had asked whether existing trees would be taken down, and worried new ones could block views of Lake Erie, Sports Illustrated’s lifestyle site reported on Oct. 30.

What Happens on Nov. 10

The board will review a revised landscape plan on Tuesday, Nov. 10, and officials hope to finalize it at that meeting, 19 News reported. Sports Illustrated’s Oct. 30 report still lists Nov. 10 as the date the board is expected to revisit the plan.

For any homeowner planning a privacy screen, the Bratenahl case shows how many pieces can hold up a planting plan: a height cap on the back lot, a survey of existing trees, and a neighbor’s pipe that sits close to where roots would spread. A similar fight over evergreens and a lake view played out in Crystal Lake, where 15 arborvitae were ordered pulled and then the order was reversed. The next public word on Swift and Kelce’s trees is due at the Nov. 10 meeting.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Andre Carrotflower – CC BY-SA 4.0/Wikimedia Commons