Byline: Jake Griffin Daily Herald Staff Writer

Homeowners in a Warrenville townhouse subdivision are complaining about some pesky neighbors.

A community of beavers has dammed a waterway on forest preserve land south of the Maple Hill subdivision on the city's northwest side. Some homeowners are worried the dam poses a flood risk to the entire 320-home subdivision.

"The way the drainage is set up in here it all flows into three detention ponds in the back," resident George Safford said. "If those drains are blocked, it will flow back into the neighborhood."

The beavers' home is situated in a dense thicket bordered by two residential neighborhoods on the north and south, with more forest preserve to the east and Fermi Lab property to the west.

Don LaBrose, a DuPage County Forest Preserve biologist, said the area is a perfect haven for the buck-toothed rodents because they have greater access to water and food.

The beavers have dammed a stream running through the property, which has caused a backup and turned the three detention areas into one giant retention pond, Safford said. …