Condo owner fears for flower garden

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By David Heitz | Friday, May 16, 2008 12:33 AM CDT | () comments

Linda Linn, left, and her husband, Mark Shuck, are in a dispute with their Bettendorf condo association over their flower garden, which is blamed for contributing to neighborhood flooding and was ordered removed. Cleyon Schaefer, right, is one of 20 neighbors who signed a petition supporting keeping the garden. Buy this Photo

Linda Linn gets pretty upset when her husband, Mark Shuck, accidentally steps on a plant inside her beloved perennial flower garden.

But when she received a letter from her Bettendorf condominium association ordering her to rip the garden out or have it flattened by a professional landscaper, she started a petition drive and even went to court this week to try to stop it.

The association claimed the rock-lined garden contributed to flooding problems between the buildings.

“It’s all punitive, it’s all vindictive,” said Linn, a resident of the Pheasant Hills condos just off Devils Glen Road.

On Wednesday, a Scott County judge denied Linn’s request for a temporary injunction to keep heavy equipment out of her hostas. “Plaintiffs can show no claim of title to the disputed area,” James Kelly wrote. “It is and has always been owned by the defendant.”

An attorney representing the association, David Dettmann, declined comment. Pam Sage, the property manager, could not be reached Thursday.

Linn and Shuck have a history of disputes with the association’s board and property managers, including being denied permission to build a deck. Several years ago, residents of their building broke away from the main association and developed their own association. The primary association still oversees common areas, including the flower

garden.

The association hired Townsend Engineering to determine what causes flooding in the common area between Linn and Shuck’s building and the one across from it. The engineering firm determined part of the problem was caused by the garden.

“It is my professional opinion that the existing landscaping and the low elevations of the outlet pipes can cause stormwater to pond during significant rainfall events,” Chris Townsend, owner of the engineering firm, wrote in a letter to Sage. But, he added, “it appears that the as-built volume of the detention basin is less than the design volume.”

Linn’s flower bed sits on a berm next to the drainage area between the two buildings. About nine units with sump pumps pour water into the drainage area during heavy rainfall. “The flower garden isn’t in the drainage ditch,” she said.

Linn’s next-door neighbors also have a flower garden on a berm, but she said they have not been ordered to remove it. “It’s absurd. A 2-year-old can stand there and look at it and see the flooding isn’t caused by the gardens.”

At least 20 of her neighbors agree with her, signing the petition she took to all the units facing the garden and drainage area.

Loretta and John Martinson were among those who signed. They said they believe the flooding in the area is the result of poor engineering and grading when the development went up 30 years ago.

“It’s nice that they have improved this area,” she said of the garden, which Linn planted 10 years ago. “We sit on the deck every night, and we enjoy the garden. When we took around the petition everyone said, ‘Oh no, I hope they don’t have to take it out.’”

Meanwhile, the master association is suing Shuck, who is president of his building’s sub-association, for the $3,000 engineering report as well as monthly dues and late fees. Shuck said his lawyer has advised him not to pay for the report because he did not order it.

The deadline for removing the garden was Thursday. Shuck said he would not be surprised if a bulldozer rolls over the flower bed as early as today.

“This is very frustrating. My wife is very emotional over this. She’s a flower person,” he said.

David Heitz can be contacted at (563) 383-2202 or dheitz@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.