Alex Brandon/AP, Google Street View
Donald Trump and his representatives are engaged in a battle with Beverly Hills.
- A hedge outside of Donald Trump's Beverly Hills mansion is taller than the city allows.
- Trump's representatives insist that the hedge's height is a matter of security.
- Trump has reportedly paid at least $1,128.90 in fines for the property.
There's a problem with Donald Trump's wall.
Not the one he hopes to build along the United States-Mexico border, but a hedge, outside his Beverly Hills mansion, that exceeds the six-foot maximum height that the city allows, according to Forbes. Beverly Hills residents can apply for permits for hedges that would otherwise violate the ordinance, but neither Trump nor his representatives have done so.
As a result, Beverly Hills Code Enforcement Officer Josh Charlin has inspected the hedge and surrounding property at least six times since the violation was reported by an anonymous resident in February, and Trump has paid at least $1,128.90 in fines for the hedge through the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles.
In response to Charlin's inspections, Trump's property manager called the law that restricts hedge height "ridiculous," and Trump's lawyer, Jill Martin, explained that the Secret Service believes the matter to be a security issue, Forbes reported. In a letter to Charlin, Martin wrote, "We believe that the hedges subject to the Citation are a necessity for the provision of proper security to the owner and his family."
She indicated that the Secret Service would be "performing a threat and security assessment in the coming weeks to determine the necessity of the hedges," and according to correspondence between Charlin and Beverly Hills Code Enforcement Manager Nestor Otazu, the assessment concluded with the decision to keep the hedge at its current height.
When the Beverly Hills police department contacted Trump's property manager, the manager replied that the Secret Service "has not drafted any letter defending the height limit of the property's trees and has no intention of drafting any letter whatsoever."
For now, the hedge still stands, and the fines will continue to rack up.