Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, bought a $6 million mansion in one of Austin’s most exclusive suburbs in 2022. This decision has landed him squarely in the eye of the storm. What happened next was a complete turn of events. Musk’s team posted an unauthorized 16-foot-high chain-link fence, put up a metal gate and installed cameras facing outwards all around the property. With these changes comes considerable alarm from the surrounding neighbors about safety, as well as changing the nature of the community.
Former longtime Cincinnati-area real estate agent Paul Hemmer. He happens to be the neighborhood homeowners association president, and lives one house over from Musk, across a short street. Instead of simply enforcing the law, he’s gone out of his way to target what he believes are ordinance violations on Musk’s property. Hemmer has gone so far as to fly drones over Musk’s residence in unsuccessful efforts to capture footage of these violations.
“I was on my own property in my underwear when flying the drone,” Hemmer stated, highlighting his commitment to ensuring compliance with local regulations. He expressed frustration over Musk’s apparent disregard for the rules, saying, “If you follow him at all in the news, he’s always guilty of building stuff and then asking for permission later.”
Musk’s security detail has, predictably, been a scourge to residents. They are repeatedly and overtly armed and have created a heavily militarized atmosphere that has most certainly aggravated the peaceful neighborhood climate. Further still, Musk’s vehicles have caused a series of disruptions — forcing dozens of homeowners to vocally worry about the effect on their residential community.
The community remains especially concerned about Musk’s possible comeback from Washington, D.C., where he has been shuttling back and forth to run Tesla’s business there. Residents are concerned that his arrival might deepen the very problems that brought him there. Even his unpermitted installations—and particularly the one in Paris—have caused international uproar.
Despite the backlash, Musk’s team appears unfazed by the neighborhood’s grievances. Residents are understandably on high alert given the alarming precedent of not getting construction permits for the fence and other new renovations. This absence of permits has the community justifiably alarmed.
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