Few people want beefs with their neighbors to become public. That includes Elon Musk.
In March, Mr. Musk’s team lobbied officials in the upscale city of West Lake Hills, Texas, to keep quiet the details of one of his mansions and security operations, according to emails to city employees obtained by The New York Times through public records requests.
In those emails, the tech billionaire’s employees asked West Lake Hills officials to make private a public meeting in April — where neighbors might speak about his $6 million house. They pointed to Mr. Musk’s work with the Trump administration as reason that his property records and communications with the city be exempted from state and federal public records laws, the emails showed.
The homeowner should be exempt because he is a “federal public official,” one of Mr. Musk’s employees wrote in an email sent to the city on March 3, adding, “We can provide federal clearance documentation if needed.”
Mr. Musk, 53, was trying to keep a disagreement with his neighbors over the construction of a 16-foot, chain-link fence and a metal gate with a camera at the mansion under wraps. He had made the changes to the property without obtaining the proper permits, violating six city ordinances, and was trying to retroactively address the issue.
His privacy push was unsuccessful. The West Lake Hills city attorney ruled against a closed meeting, the emails show. Last month, at a gathering of the Zoning and Planning Commission, Mr. Musk lost his appeal to keep the fence and gate on his property. The matter goes next to a City Council meeting, which had been scheduled for May 14 but was rescheduled for June 11 after “the applicant requested a postponement,” Trey Fletcher, the city administrator, said on Tuesday.
Mr. Fletcher declined to comment on the city documents. Mr. Musk and his team did not respond to requests for comment.
The 6,900-square-foot, six-bedroom home in West Lake Hills is one of three mansions that Mr. Musk bought over the past few years for his children and their mothers. The mansion, on a residential cul-de-sac of four homes, is where Mr. Musk stays when he is in Austin and has become a hub for his growing security operations. He bought the property in 2022 through a limited liability company.
After the 16-foot fence and separate gate were erected, neighbors complained about the structures and the traffic on the leafy street. That led West Lake Hills officials to investigate.
By March, Mr. Musk’s staff had become concerned that any documentation it sent to the city would become public, the emails show. Tisha Ritta, a permit official working for Mr. Musk’s limited liability company, emailed the city to request that a hearing scheduled to discuss issues at the property be kept private.
Inna Kaplun, who was identified as a lawyer working for “the property owner,” also emailed the city, arguing that the owner should be exempt from a public hearing because of numerous security personnel at the property, including federal marshals. Citing a Texas statute, the lawyer said government entities did not have to conduct an open meeting to deliberate “security personnel or devices.”
Mr. Musk’s staff members and city officials held at least one meeting in March to discuss the property, the emails show. In mid-March, the city attorney for West Lake Hills ruled against Mr. Musk’s request for a private hearing, citing the Texas Open Meetings Act, according to an email.
At the public Zoning and Planning Commission meeting last month, city employees recommended that Mr. Musk be allowed to keep the fence and gate he had built without permits, albeit with small changes required. Some of the commission’s six members questioned the city staff about the proposal, according to a recording of the meeting.
The commission ultimately voted to recommend that the City Council deny Mr. Musk the exceptions for his projects.
