West Newsmagazine 5-22-19

16 I NEWS I
May 22, 2019
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
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Dispute between Wildwood
neighbors leads to waterfall conflict
Waterfall feature on the property of Tom and Karen Roberts in Wildwood
[Jeffrey Bricker photo]
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By JEFFREY BRICKER
When Tom and Karen Roberts bought
land in Wildwood on which to build their
dream home, they had no idea the trouble
that lay ahead. But after nearly two years
of back-and-forth with neighbors and the
city, the Roberts are hardly enjoying peace
and quiet.
“If I would have known back then what I
know now, I would have just filed a lawsuit
and this would have been cleared up,” Tom
Roberts said. “My attorney can’t believe
that I’m being this patient.”
The Roberts purchased nearly 100 acres
of secluded woods off of Laurey Lane near
the Wildwood-Chesterfield border. The
land is located between the Babler Woods
Subdivision and Babler State Park. While
their house sits hundreds of feet away from
the property line and even further from the
nearest neighbor, the Roberts have been
subjected to a series of complaints about
a water feature they added to their exterior
landscaping.
“This is devastating for us,” Diane
Hudson told the Wildwood Planning and
Zoning Commission on May 6. “We are
very healthy people. We have had no issues.
First week it was turned on in May of 2017,
I became sick that weekend.”
Hudson, along with her husband, David,
are the Roberts’ neighbors and the source
of the complaints about the water feature.
They live adjacent to the Roberts’ property.
Although a row of trees separates the two
estates, the Hudsons claim they can hear
and smell the water feature every time it is
turned on. Diane told the commission she
waits to go outside or let her dogs go outside
until the water feature is not running
for fear of being exposed to something
toxic.
“We don’t want to be exposed to it until
it’s tested, and we know what’s in it,” Diane
said. “This is runoff water from all across
the ground into this lake with no treatment
and no filtration.”
The Roberts are more than a bit skeptical
about the claims being made by the Hudsons.
“This waterfall is 150 feet away from
the property line with heavy vegetation,”
Tom told the commission. “My neighbor,
Mr. Hudson, claims he can smell something
from 150 feet away. I find that hard
to believe … he claims it is impacting his
health. I don’t know how that can be when
it hasn’t run.”
Based on a decision made by the commission
in February, the Roberts are
only allowed to turn on the pumps to the
waterfall a few times a week and only for
a few minutes. Compliance with that decision
has been another point of contention
between the two neighbors.
The Hudsons claim they took notes,
including video, to document the dates,
time and duration for which the waterfall
was being run. They submitted their reports
via email to Joe Vujnich, the city’s director
of planning and parks. However, the Roberts
have countered these claims, even providing
documents showing when Tom was
out of town on dates when the Hudsons
claimed the waterfall was running.
Tom said the current complaint from the
Hudsons is just the latest in a lengthy pattern
of harassment. He noted that, at first,
it was the sound of the water feature they
complained about. But after sound testing
was completed by an outside consultant,
that issue was dropped since the sound
measurements were well below the maximum
allowed by city ordinance.
The Roberts contend that the Hudsons
have been after them without cause since
they purchased their property.
See WATERFALL, page 52