Big bird flap may soon be over

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., June 22 (UPI) -- Residents of a West Palm Beach development awaited a judge's verdict Tuesday in a three-year flap over mailboxes, fake birds and the limits of conformity.

Steven Grossberg, 55, said his two plastic birds keep the real birds from perching on and fouling his mailbox, the Palm Beach Post reported.

But three years ago the Oakdale Townhomes Association II in suburban Boynton Beach asked Grossberg to remove the birds, citing association rules that require everyone to have the same mailbox.

When he did not comply, they sued. And on Monday, the flap finally landed in the lap of senior County Judge Bernard Jaffe, who could rule on the case any time.

The association's lawyer, in closing arguments, said, "If you permit these birds, then what's next? The floodgates are open."

But Grossberg's lawyer countered Grossberg had not violated association rules and the small plastic birds were more attractive than other mailboxes in the community covered with bird droppings.