To battle the looks, try putting your cedar raised beds, we talked about in earlier post outside the bins, in such a way as to block the view. Cut the pallets in half and place them on the inside row where they are not so noticeable. The four foot height really is not necessary in that you need to turn the compost over continually and no one can lift four feet of compost by hand.
The smell really should not be there. You need to cover the rotting elements with a layer of soil or worm castings to seal it in. Usually the smelly compost is the wet compost. The lack of oxygen is creating anaerobic bacteria which does help break down the elements faster, but at the cost of odor. If you stir the compost up and allow more oxygen in, then put the layer of soil on top, the odor should not reach your neighbors.
Another way to compost quickly and easily is to buy a roll of chicken wire or tight square hog wire. Loop it and tie in in a circle then load it up. Make sure it is large enough to get your pitch fork in there to turn it or you'll get very frustrated. The same principles to reduce smell can be used here too.I like to keep a couple of big bins of leaves ready. I don't let these leaves get wet so they are easy to move (preferably after running through the mower to mulch them down a bit). This is my cover to add to the top every time I put in garbage elements from the kitchen counter. It creates an earthy smell but not something that smells bad.
