Bratenahl Board Fights Over Fence and Trees at Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce Property

A local planning dispute in the small Cuyahoga County village of Bratenahl, Ohio, has drawn national attention after neighbors of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce used a village architectural review meeting to object to landscaping and security plans at the couple’s $5 million lakefront property.

According to meeting transcripts obtained by the Daily Mail, residents told the Bratenahl Architectural Review Board last month that the couple’s presence has been a “tremendous blow” to the neighborhood’s peace and quiet, and several raised practical objections to proposed fencing and tree planting on the property.

The board had already approved a six-foot fence around the estate in September. But at a follow-up meeting on Tuesday, longtime resident Katherine Bolton, who has lived next door for more than 30 years, warned that planting evergreen trees near a shared, aging sewer line could cause “catastrophic sewer backups.” Bolton said she had been quoted $75,000 to line the sewer against root intrusion and is in contact with the couple’s attorney about the issue.

“This applicant may decide to sell her house next year, maybe move on and buy another house,” Bolton said. “What am I going to do when I have 50 evergreen trees on my sewer line, and they’re gone? And I’m still living here in Bratenahl.”

Another neighbor, Chuck Bauernschmidt, who lives two doors away, criticized what he called the “ridiculous” clear-cutting of shrubbery on the property, claiming the trees there are now gone. He also raised concerns that deer could be injured on the planned fence.

Jacob Kutz of Tiny Construction, the planner representing Kelce and Swift, told the board the couple is simply seeking privacy and security following what he described as one of the largest home sales in Cuyahoga County. He said the original proposal, which called for an eight-foot fence around the full property, had already been scaled back to six feet and no longer extends to the Lake Erie shoreline.

Kutz said the couple had taken steps to address neighbors’ concerns, including having the shared sewage line jetted and cleaned at their own initiative and adding a gate for Bauernschmidt after he said he felt closed off by the new fencing.

The board approved landscaping plans for the front of the property on Tuesday, though a revised proposal will come back before the board at a future meeting.

An LLC connected to Kelce purchased the home in March, and Bolton confirmed during the meeting that the property had been “recently purchased by Travis Kelce.” Page Six reported in September that the couple, who married in July, have since installed an alarm system to alert them if anyone gets too close to the house. Representatives for Swift and Kelce did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The episode is a small but vivid example of how local land-use boards, often operating with little public attention, mediate disputes between private property owners over fences, trees, and shared infrastructure — disputes that become newsworthy chiefly because of who is involved.