Walnut Springs residents are contemplating a way to defuse growing frustration over a brightly colored shed built by the man who developed their neighborhood: Hide it behind fast-growing, bushy trees.
People from the small western Howard County community met with government officials Wednesday night to discuss their options - which are limited - and to ask if the county will help pay for the green buffer.
The shed, built as a protest, is driving them crazy.
"We don't want to look at it," said homeowners association President David Dailey, who lives next door to the pinkish-red structure. "At least if you don't have to look at it, you're not reminded. I'm reminded every time I go outside."
The battle is not really between them and Charles W. Schroyer, 64, a retired contractor who subdivided his 107-acre Woodbine land in the early 1990s to create Walnut Springs. It's Schroyer vs. the county.
"We're scapegoats," said Jeff Brister, a Walnut Springs resident who held the meeting at his house.
Schroyer says the county cheated him out of a home lot on a hilly parcel in the middle of the neighborhood. County regulators disagree, so usual complaints were not getting him anywhere.
In May, hoping to compel officials to see things his way, Schroyer built the shed on the hilly plot - surrounded by expensive homes in muted tones that he helped create.
Animals such as goats, chickens and pigs will be brought in as soon as Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. runs electricity to the site to power the well pump, he said. Workers are scheduled to start today, he added.
Saying he could do nothing else with his land, Schroyer sent residents a letter last year promising to bring in livestock unless they bought the lot for $70,000 or helped him persuade the county to allow a house there.
Neighbors lobbied officials, but to no avail.
"He's hoping to get us to badger them enough, but they're not going to change it," said Brister, who was one of the first to move into the neighborhood. "And I can understand their perspective."
Next, residents tried to find a way to get rid of the shed and keep farm animals from moving into their 21-house subdivision - also to no avail.
"There are some things he's allowed to do with the property," said County Councilman Allan H. Kittleman, who was at the meeting. "It's frustrating for me to sit there and say, `I don't know if I can help.' I will do the best I can, but there are limits to what government can do."
