BOULDER — A jury will be asked to decide this week whether a Gunbarrel woman’s pyramid of Peeps and other Easter decor on her apartment door became stale enough to warrant her eviction.
Carol Burdick, 59, will appear in Boulder County Court on Wednesday to argue that she was wrongfully forced from her home for leaving Easter decorations on her door 17 days past the holiday.
“You can’t evict somebody for Easter bunny decorations,” said Boulder attorney John Pineau, who has taken on Burdick’s unusual case. “An Easter decoration is a religious statement and should be protected — even if it is just bunnies.”
Pineau said his client kept a modest display on the door of her apartment, at 5105 Williams Fork Trail, including small Easter-theme stickers, plastic grass, Peeps marshmallow candies and a cardboard cutout of a chicken in a colorful egg.
The trial will center on whether Burdick’s festive display violated conditions of her lease with Denver’s AIMCO corporation and Meadow Creek Apartments.
The Meadow Creek landlord called Burdick a few days after the April 12 holiday and told her that the decorations needed to come down, Pineau said. The woman refused, leading apartment managers to post a notice that she was violating a provision of her lease requiring residents to “keep the apartment home, including all balconies, patios and other areas . . . in a clean and sanitary condition.”
“They’re calling her decorations garbage,” Pineau said.
