Elon Musk Is Having Massive Drama With His Mansion's Neighbors

While billionaire Elon Musk is ripping through government agencies in Washington, DC, his cushy $6 million abode in a wealthy Austin suburb is tearing up local rules as well.

As the New York Times reports, Musk bought the six-bedroom mansion in West Lake Hills in 2022. The location was unusual for somebody requiring constant monitoring by an army of security guards, since it sits off a narrow public road in the middle of a residential neighborhood.

To beef up security, Musk erected a 16-foot chain-link fence around the property — which got the richest man in trouble with the local Zoning and Planning Commission, as it was a full ten feet taller than it was allowed to be. According to the NYT, the construction of the fence and a metal gate violated six city ordinances and didn't have any of the necessary permits.

While Musk's staff have since tried to retroactively get permits and exceptions for the fence and gates, the process is still ongoing.

However, the disregard for rules has angered plenty of neighbors. Many have complained about the ruckus the billionaire's new home has caused, from constant traffic to workers coming and going at all hours of the day, per the NYT.

"Transporting service employees to other houses, leaving their cars on our quiet streets, hauling laundry to and fro to other houses has to stop," local resident Paul Hemmer wrote in a statement to the Zoning and Planning Commission.

The incident once again highlights Musk's notorious unwillingness to abide by rules that apply to ordinary people. His firms have broken an avalanche of rules and regulations over the years, an ask-for-forgiveness-not-permission approach that has landed them in plenty of legal trouble.

The mercurial CEO has also attracted plenty of negative media attention due to his embrace of extremist views and gutting of the federal government. In other words, wherever he may call his home, chances are he's not the kind of neighbor anybody would like to have, no matter their circumstances or socioeconomic status.

Musk has also shown an increasingly paranoid streak, saying that he's constantly worried about being killed. As the Wall Street Journal reported last month, he told the mother of one of his youngest children that he's the "#2 after Trump for assassination."

"Only the paranoid survive," he added.

Musk's mansion is one of three buildings forming a "compound" for the many mothers of his many children. Per the NYT, his on-and-off-again girlfriend Claire "Grimes" Boucher once lived in the West Lake Hills house. Neuralink executive Shivon Zillis, with whom Musk has had four children, lives a ten-minute walk away.

If he's trying to build a restful environment for his family, he's failing miserably, with his bulldozer approach to development ruffling many feathers in the community.

"I call that place Fort Knox," president of the neighborhood homeowners association Paul Hemmer, who has written complaints to the Zoning and Planning Commission, told the NYT.

"If you follow him at all in the news, he’s always guilty of building stuff and then asking for permission later," he added.

A West Lake Hills City Council session on May 14 will debate Musk's disregard for zoning rules — and chances are, things could get heated.

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