Finley

I.

BACKGROUND

The parties’ properties are situated above a canyon in the Pacific Beach community of San Diego and comprise part of a tract developed circa the 1960’s called Pacifica Unit No. 5, with Gantz’s property located two lots to the south of Finley and Adams’s property. Each lot includes a single-family house and—in its backyard—a pool, patio, and deck with views across the canyon. Finley and Adams purchased their lot, and Gantz purchased his lot, in 2015. Opinions regarding the quality of the southerly view from the Finley/Adams property at that time vary. According to Finley and Adams’s expert, the view “included Pacific Beach, Mission Bay, Point Loma, and the distant ocean”; and, according to Finley and Adams, the view was “expansive.” But in the opinion of Gantz’s expert, it was “marginal.” In early 2017, a contractor hired by Gantz commenced work on a project that would result in replacement of Gantz’s old deck with a new deck; extension of the deck, atop a substructure of pillars or piers, some distance

into the canyon;1 and construction of what Finley and Adams have described

Finley and Adams assert that, as a result of the project discussed above, Gantz’s…