Some trees grow faster than lawsuits take to close.
Another filing has been made in the ongoing litigation between the city of Holmes Beach and the owners of a tree house on the beach.
Tree house owners Richard Hazen and Lynn Tran have responded to the city’s filing to show cause.
Hazen and Tran requested Jan. 26 that an oral argument be scheduled to address the December 2014 filing by the city to show cause, a legal term that means to justify or explain a case.
The show cause filing was at the request of Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal following Hazen and Tran’s writ of certiorari.
Hazen and Tran have been fighting the city over the tree house since November 2011, when officials first looked into the structure on the beach at Angelinos Sea Lodge, 2818 Ave. E., Holmes Beach.
In July 2013, the city code enforcement board found the tree house in violation of several codes, including being built beyond the allowed setback and lacking permits for construction.
The case has spent several years trading hands between the city’s code enforcement board and the courts. A circuit court decision in favor of the city in September 2014 prompted Hazen and Tran’s appeal.
Both parties were ordered to show cause to determine if the court would hear the appeal with Hazen and Tran taking the lead and Holmes Beach responding.
The DCA must first decide on reviewing the local trial court’s September 2014 ruling.
A second pending case filed by the city in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court asks the court to declare null and void a petition and referendum submitted by Hazen and Tran following the initial finding of violation by the code board.
The petition included signatures of 10 percent of the city’s voters, which forced a commission vote to grandfather the tree house. The forced vote failed, however, lacking a second to the motion when it was heard in October 2013.
A referendum was then filed that would put the fate of the tree house on a ballot in a special election.
If allowed, voters of Holmes Beach would make the call on keeping or removing the tree house.
City attorney Patricia Petruff filed for a declaratory judgment seeking to kill the referendum.