The Bratenahl Architectural Review Board approved the landscaping in front of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s lakefront mansion outside Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026, but put the rear-yard tree plan on hold over a dispute about how tall the plantings would grow.
The meeting handed the couple a partial green light and a pile of grievances. A revised landscape plan goes before the board Tuesday, Nov. 10, and members said they hope to finalize it then.
Neighbor Warns About Sewer Line
Katherine Bolton, who has lived next door for more than three decades, raised the sharpest objection. She shares a 115-year-old sewer line with the property, and she told the board that roughly 50 evergreens near that line would mean the eventual ruin of it.
“What am I going to do when I have 50 evergreen trees on my sewer line, and they’re gone?” Bolton asked the board. “Planting 50 evergreen trees just 10 feet from a 100-year-old clay sewer line is virtually guaranteed to cause severe root intrusion, pipe structural failure, and catastrophic sewer backups,” she said at the Oct. 6 meeting, according to meeting records reported by the Daily Mail.
Bolton said she had been quoted $75,000 to line the aging pipe against roots. She said she is working through that problem with the couple’s attorney. She raised the possibility that the owner could sell and buy elsewhere within the year while she remains in the village. Bolton said she is not against the trees at all and wants a neighborly fix that spares the sewer.
Village engineer Don Bierut said at the Sept. 8 hearing that he had seen no drawing establishing the location of the shared sewer pipe, and he recommended a licensed survey showing the sewer, the property boundaries and existing trees.
Couple’s Planner Cites Privacy
Jacob Kutz of Tiny Construction LLC, the couple’s planner, said the pair are after privacy and security following one of the largest home sales in Cuyahoga County. He listed gestures the couple had made, including the sewage line jetted and cleaned without being asked and a gate added for Chuck Bauernschmidt, a neighbor who lives two doors down and had felt closed off. The firm said there had been confusion about the tree restrictions, that it is now aware of the 10-foot limit and that it is willing to adjust and follow the law.
The property’s representatives said on Sept. 8 that they were covering a $7,500 repair to a damaged section of the sewer, with the damage identified by a camera inspection, and that they had not asked neighbors to contribute. Owner representative Pat Hyland said the sewer had already been jetted and cleaned.
Village solicitor Dave Matty said the setback line applies to anything behind the home and that the landscaping is subject to a mature-height limit. Matty said the board has already approved the entire front setback.
One board member said privacy and screening are achievable with plants under 10 feet. Another board member said the team’s submission was a screening plan rather than a full landscape plan.
Fence Won Approval in September
All three Architectural Review Board members voted on Sept. 8 to approve a 6-foot black powder-coated aluminum fence, subject to conditions and over neighbor objections. The conditions require the layout and appearance to match an existing installation on Ingall Brook Lane, the gates to blend with that design and the fence heights to align with the property’s stone walls. Chair Judith McGlinchy directed that the landscaping be submitted separately for review.
Bolton at that meeting called the new owners a “tremendous blow” to the village’s “peace and quiet” and described an “absentee owner.”
A meeting transcript shows a scale-back from an 8-foot fence ringing the whole property to a 6-foot version stopping short of Lake Erie. The fence is to sit about 2 feet inside the actual property line, to stay clear of sewer lines. Local rules cap lakefront fences at 2.5 feet unless they are at least 75 percent see-through.
The September plan put new plantings at least 6 feet from the sewer line and added two gates near manholes to preserve maintenance access. Josh Ricker of Great Lakes Fence said the proposal covered 1,190 linear feet of fencing. The property’s side withdrew plans to extend fencing farther toward Lake Erie after discussions with neighbors, according to the village’s official transcript of the September hearing.
Bauernschmidt, who says he has been in Bratenahl for 47 years, objected to vegetation being cleared on the property and added that he is simply trying to protect his own place. “I take offense when we start knocking trees down,” he said. He proposed a flat-top alternative and cited other village fences as examples.
Building administrator Mary Ranney acknowledged at the Sept. 8 meeting that deer occasionally became caught on pointed fencing in the area. Landscape architect Derek Kuryla described a mixture of evergreen species in the planting proposal.
Tudor Mansion Sold in March
An LLC linked to Kelce, 37, bought the Tudor-style mansion known as The Moyenage in March for $5.35 million, below its most recent $5.99 million asking price. The home runs roughly 21,000 square feet on 3.5 acres along Lake Erie, with eight bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. Kelce grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam live in the village, and former Cavaliers Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson have owned property there. Mayor Keith Benjamin has said the village is accustomed to high-profile residents and welcomes Swift and Kelce.
Swift, 36, married Kelce on July 3. She obtained a restraining order in 2025 against Brian Jason Wagner, a man accused of repeatedly showing up at her Los Angeles homes. Page Six reported in September that the couple had installed a warning alarm to alert anyone who gets too close to the house.
