Ballwin Resident Ordered to Clean Up His Yard

For years, Lewis Greenberg's structures of wood, plastic, steel and aluminum have vexed neighbors in the Whispering Oakwood subdivision. He has said the works are a statement on the Holocaust.

A mosaic of chipped granite serves as the pathway to his door, and the Star of David appears throughout the work. Floodlights illuminate the yard at night.In the summer of 2007, dozens of residents showed up at a Ballwin Board of Aldermen meeting to complain. Shortly after, the city cited Greenberg for violating litter and hazardous material ordinances. The case has been winding its way through the courts since.

Greenberg's attorney, David Howard, said he plans to appeal a court’s ruling and hopes to keep Greenberg from having to dismantle the project.

During the trial, Howard and Greenberg's other lawyer, Veronica Johnson, noted that a city administrator called Greenberg in 2005 and told him that his work did not violate city ordinances. The Board of Aldermen didn't act until political pressure from residents, the lawyers argued.

Let’s face it. The yard is visual pollution, and pollution is illegal. Would you want to live next door to this person? What if everyone in this subdivision did the same thing? Good move.