Judge denies human-waste-dumping Asheville-area Airbnb owners' motion to dismiss lawsuit

ASHEVILLE - Two Airbnb owners who are being sued for allegedly dumping renter human waste in the woods near their property for several years had their motion to dismiss Buncombe County's lawsuit against them denied April 15 in Buncombe County Superior Court.

Sara Burrows and Brad Jordan ran the "Secret Garden of Eden" trio of Airbnbs in Weaverville and use composting toilets in two of the Airbnbs. After renters left the Airbnbs, Burrows would dump the renter's human waste, including waste from a camper used as an Airbnb, "deep in the forest" on her property, she previously told the Citizen Times.

Buncombe County sued Burrows and Jordan for the practice on Feb. 20, as well as suing the couple for lacking permits to construct the homes, failure to follow electrical code and failure to connect the structures to an approved wastewater sewage disposal system.

In a motion to dismiss the county's suit filed March 27, Burrows and Jordan alleged Buncombe County law is "fiction" and that they intend to file a "multi-million-dollar federal lawsuit" against several Buncombe County employees and threatened to sue judges and court employees if they are summoned again.

Opting for pro-se representation — meaning without a lawyer — on April 15, Burrows and Jordan's motion was denied by Superior Court Judge Nathaniel Poovey.

Buncombe County spokesperson Kassi Day said Burrows and Jordan must respond to the county complaint within 10 days — by April 25 — and had "nothing further to add at this time."

When called by the Citizen Times on April 18, Burrows said she also intended to file the lawsuit against Airbnb, saying "it's all a matter of time and having enough money." Airbnb had removed Burrows and Jordan's listings after the Citizen Times previously reported on the lawsuit in March, Burrows said.

Burrows and Jordan also noted they recently sold their camper, nicknamed "The Glamper," and have gone "all solar" and entirely "off the grid" since the filing of the lawsuit.

Burrows identifies as an 'American State National'

Burrows said she has an "affidavit of revocation of citizenship" in the mail to the U.S. Secretary of State, and told the Citizen Times: "I am no longer a Citizen. I am a sovereign, but I am not a citizen." The affidavit is included in her motion to dismiss.

Burrows said she identified as an "American State National," and not as a "sovereign citizen."

Christine Sarteschi, professor of Social Work and Criminology at Chatham University in Pennsylvania, told the Citizen Times April 18 the two terms "for all practical purposes, excluding their preferred name" are identical.

Sarteschi wrote a February article published in Police1 on the subject of American State Nationals, titled "American State Nationals: The newest group of sovereign citizens."

Sarteschi wrote that American State Nationals "assert they are not sovereign citizens," but American State Nationals intend to obtain documents that repudiate "their U.S. citizenship, thereby ending any 'contract' with the U.S. government."

"They believe this action exempts them from the jurisdiction of all U.S. laws and codes, rendering them immune to government interference in their lives," Sarteschi wrote, noting the tactics, behaviors, ideology and language of American State Nationals "align with the sovereign citizen movement."

In her March 27 motion to dismiss, Burrows said she had asked her neighbors about her human compost dumping practices at the "organic food forest and permaculture farm" Secret Garden of Eden Airbnb site and said they hadn't complained.

"They said they had no idea we had them, nor did they care. They do however enjoy our wineberry preserves and herbal salve we give them at Christmas," Burrows wrote.

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Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at [email protected]. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Suit against Weaverville Airbnb owners for dumping waste can proceed