The accusations are brazen: stalking, arson, destruction of property, disturbing the peace.
Their neighbors, however, chose the area for its solitude.
Now the two parties are in the midst of a bitter battle both in and outs of court with criminal and civil suits filed.
Now they say the business brings music at 100 decibels, families at the pumpkin patch shouting all day and random strangers using their driveway as a place to make u-turns (read the Paulsen family's full statement regarding Berggren's accusations below).
"It's one of those things that it'll get settled hopefully, hopefully everyone will come around and realize hey we can all live together peacefully," said Berggren.
He said he has tried to be a respectful neighbor while also running a business.
The Paulsen Family Statement:
In reference to the two fires, one was on our property after using a grinder to cut down metal fence in August of 2014. Kansas isn't known for large amounts of rain during this time of year, and metal grinders create a lot of sparks. The grass did catch on fire and was stomped out by my father, Bob Paulsen. Kirk noticed it had reignited, trespassed on our property to scream at me, and I ran to grab a bucket of water. The second fire was intentionally set by Mr. Berggren in his burn bin approximately 30' outside of my horse barn with five horses inside. The bin had been moved from the back of the property to intentionally burn outside my barn door after a misunderstanding about manure. I had asked him not to burn there because of my horses, but he didn't seem to care about my well-being, or that of my horses. Each horse and myself were placed in distress over the smoke-filled barn, and had a lingering cough for about five days. I had used my hose to wet the grass on my side of the fence, and lucky I did so because an ember left the bin and ignited the grass on fire. Once the fire was out of the bin, it was within county controls and extinguished. We were in a January drought and I'm thankful things didn't end much worse and that I was home to phone the fire department. After this incident, I installed security cameras in and around the barn to protect myself and my horses. This is when I was accused of stalking and their privacy fence went up around the patio.
As far as the Facebook posts, they didn't have access to that information and had to use a third party to get it. It is currently in litigation and I don't believe anyone outside of the case should be privy to that information. I feel like my rights have been violated.
The noise complaints come from decibel readings of up to 103 on our back patio, located approximately 160' north of the winery patio. Regular readings are from 80-95db. They also come from our headboards rattling at 10 p.m. when we are trying to go to sleep at night. Had they acquired proper permits, they would not be allowed live music within 1,000 feet of any residence. All we are looking for is reasonable volume and frequency. My family didn't move out here 18 years ago to put up with this incessant racket.
We have been maintaining our property for the last 18 years without complaint from any neighbor. The grape vines were planted about 12 years ago and we have continued the same brome field maintenance that we started 18 years ago without complaint... until now. KC Pumpkin Patch, LLC purchased the property in December of 2013. The "No drift" signs surrounding their property went up immediately, then the complaints began.
When Mr. Berggren first approached my father, he led us to believe they would simply be growing pumpkins next door and possibly start fermenting their own grapes. They initially applied for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for the Pumpkin Patch and Winery. When the county denied their request, they removed the winery from the CUP application. The Pumpkin Patch CUP was then approved by itself with various limitations. They then applied for, and received, a State Farm Winery License that allows for the making and tasting of wine on premises, but does not authorize events and live music. They can have their winery and tastings! They can have their Pumpkin Patch! We are asking them to be reasonable with their noise level and respect that this is our Home.
-----
Terra Hall can be reached at terra.hall@kshb.com.
You can also follow her on Twitter.
