GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A federal lawsuit filed by former Green Bay residents against the city claiming officials violated their rights when the city destroyed their garden without permission twice has been settled.
FOX 11 reports that the city forked over nearly $42,000 to cover legal fees and the value of the plants destroyed to Margaret and Steve Gerhard, according to the attorney representing Green Bay Gregg Gunta.
The Gerhard’s had been seeking $125,000 in damages.
According to Gunta, the city agreed to the payment because, at the time, city ordinance did not have any mechanism for those cited for violating the weed ordinance to appeal or challenge the complaint before the plants would be destroyed.
Gunta says that city code has since changed to allow for that appeal mechanism and due process.
The City Council approved the deal at its August 16 meeting.
According to the suit:
* In 1994, the Gerhard’s stopped having a traditional lawn, and converted it into a ‘natural garden’ over the course of 15 years.
* On July 15, 2009, the city posted a 24-hour weed removal notice on their door. However, they were out of town. “Prior to their return, City employees entered their property without a warrant, without consent, and without prior notice to be heard, and destroyed all of the plants within that fenced in garden by digging them up and spraying chemical herbicides,” the suit claims.
* The city later determined the property did not violate the obnoxious weed ordinance, so the couple rebuilt.
* In 2011, the Gerhard’s received another removal notice. The couple started working on getting variance. But, while out of town, the city again destroyed all of the plants.
* Ms. Gerhard worked to get naturally-landscaped lawns permitted in the city – but because their five applications for a permit were not approved, they moved.
