Key legal question
Whether the tree, plants and plant containers on the courtyard required a building permit.
Extracted holding
The tree and plant containers were not a fence and, absent any public-law impairment, were not subject to a building permit.
Extracted reasoning
Individual trees, shrubs and plant containers are generally not permit-required. Any interference with the neighbors' private easement rights is to be resolved in civil proceedings and does not itself create a building-permit duty.