Judge rules against St. Peters man’s sunflower garden

ST. PETERS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – A St. Peters judge ruled against Chris Bank‘s sunflower garden on Tuesday.

As the flowers start to disappear, Chris’ front yard will soon look vastly different.

“I literally have 20 left, in less than two weeks, there will be no sunflowers left,“ said Chris.

Last month, First Alert 4 told you that in 2021, Chris started a sunflower garden to remember a loved one.

“She truly loved sunflowers, and I thought it would be fitting for her to be part of it,” said Chris.

But that has since turned into a legal battle with the city, which said he does not follow the city ordinance.

“You know, I thought this was crazy, that I’m going to court over sunflowers,” he said.

On Tuesday, a judge sided with the city, saying his sunflowers are a crop and it covers more than 10 percent of his yard.

“I’m not surprised,” he said.

First Alert 4 received new documents from St. Peters that show complaints from neighbors over the years. The document said, “It’s getting ridiculous to look at.” Other comments were about his character, including one that said, “I’d like to remain anonymous – he is vindictive.”

“In vindictive, you’d have to give me an example. I don’t know who that would be that would say that and not give an example. And obviously, there would be court cases on that kind of stuff if that was the issue,” he said.

Supporters joined Chris in the courtroom.

“This is attacking him. This is not that they care about the sunflowers,” said Lexi, a supporter of Chris. “He’s really standing up for what he believes, being strong. But I don’t know that it is argumentative. I think it is defensive.”

Chris said character aside, the city is targeting him and that it all started with a property dispute years ago with his HOA.

“You’re basically battling the city, with the city, city judge and city prosecuting attorney. I mean, what is really gonna happen? I mean, it doesn’t make a difference what you can prove and show,” he said.

Chris said he plans to appeal the court’s decision, where this case will then go to St. Charles County.

“So what I really want to do is go in front of St. Charles, not a St. Peters’ biased court and literally go in front of somebody, my peers and if they say, ‘Yeah Mr. Bank, we side with the city, I will never grow a sunflower again,” he said.

So as the sunflowers continue to wilt, Chris grows hopeful the jury will side with him.