One thing homeowners generally have little to no control over is their neighbors. While a best-case scenario may have the people who moved in next door becoming best friends who feel like found family, it's also possible that the new folks adjacent to you might be a source of headaches, frustration, and even lawsuits.
A pair of neighboring families in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, are engaged in a protracted legal battle over the edges of property lines and what constitutes a "sport court." With a former lawyer on one side and the city backing the other, count on the next block party having its share of awkward moments.
A Game of Inches
All four members of the Moeding family are basketball fans. They are ardent supporters of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the children, boys aged 12 and 9, play for local teams. Practice makes perfect, so parents Ross and Lilly installed a basketball hoop by their driveway.
In 2024, Fred and Julia Ramos moved in next door. With the Ramoses bothered by the closeness of the hoop to their property, the two families entered into mediation through St. Louis Park to solve the issue. Solutions were offered, but the Ramoses appealed both a zoning board and a city council decision. After losing in both instances, things got legal. Quickly.
Julia Ramos, a former attorney, determined that the hoop was located a few inches short of the required five-foot minimum from the property line that applied to sports courts. Ramos also filed for a restraining order to keep Ross Moeding from retrieving errant basketballs that might end up on their property. "I have to watch them. I don’t want to have to watch them," she said to the city council. A judge dismissed the order with prejudice.
Citing the sport court ordinance, Ramos filed a civil complaint against the Moedings on February 29, 2025. In it, she claims that a St. Louis Park employee made a measuring error when determining the distances, and that while the new location of the hoop's support post is far enough away from the property line, a pump adjust handle attached to it is in violation.
Noting that her house is scheduled for construction in the coming months, Ramos expressed concern for the safety of the Moeding children. Her complaint requested that the hoop assembly be moved farther away from the property line so that it meets the zoning requirements of a sport court (the hoop is currently adjacent to the Moedings' driveway). It also asked for a temporary injunction to keep the kids from playing basketball in their driveway during the four months of planned construction.
While her filing supported her position under the letter of the law, Ramos couldn't have known that a slam dunk for her neighbors was on the way.
Nothing But Net
In March 2025, the City of St. Louis Park changed the playing field — literally. The previous code stated that a patio, porch, or pool was not considered a sport court. The zoning code was amended to add driveways to that list. On May 5, St. Louis Park City attorney Jared Shepherd filed a memo stating the opinion that under the new zoning, Ramos' complaint was now moot.
Ramos is representing herself, which means that the ongoing legal actions won't cause her the financial burden the Moeding family is shouldering. Citing legal fees, their GoFundMe to mitigate their legal costs is close to hitting their $28,000 goal. The family has promised that any overage or unused funds will be donated to 612 Promise, a nonprofit focused on providing access to sports for disadvantaged youths.
How the lawsuit resolves remains to be seen. It's unlikely the whole thing will be settled by a winner-take-all game of HORSE.
Related Resources
- Zoning Law (FindLaw's Land Use Law)
- Property Boundaries, Lines, and Neighbors FAQ (FindLaw's Neighbors: Laws and Disputes)
- Property Rights: My Neighbor Is a Nuisance (FindLaw's Real Estate Law)
