Short of demolishing the beachfront tree house, is there a way to bring the structure into compliance?
A city mediator ordered a fine or compliance May 23 for a two-story tree house – built without permits in 2011 — on the beachfront in Holmes Beach.
Building official Jim McGuinness said May 25 he “wasn’t prepared to answer” the question while awaiting direction from a city attorney.
Code enforcement officer JT Thomas couldn’t answer the question either.
Lynn Tran and husband Richard Hazen built the structure at 103 29th St., where they reside and operate four vacation units, Angelinos Sea Lodge.
The tree house was built in an Australian pine, which, according to its owners, is about 120-feet tall and 89 inches in diameter. The elaborate tree house has two observation decks with ample space for seating, removable windows, solar electricity and is supported by four pilings.
In July 2013, the city’s code enforcement board ordered the tree house demolished if it couldn’t be brought into code compliance.
The magistrate decision May 23 echoes that order, imposing $15,350 in back fines, plus $50 every day the owners are out of compliance.
Tran remains hopeful in the wake of the decision.
She expected to meet with city officials the week of May 31 to apply for a permit, provide engineering and a survey, and try to find a path to compliance without destroying the tree house.
Responding to the magistrate’s ruling, Thomas said, “We’re pleased with the finding and we’re hoping to move forward.”
The code enforcement officer said he would reach out to the owners and work with them to achieve compliance — but couldn’t say what that means.
The ruling from city magistrate, Kelly M. Fernandez of the Lakewood Ranch law firm Persson & Cohen, who ruled the owners failed to comply with a July 30, 2013, code enforcement board order, stating they did not “diligently progress in good faith towards removing all violations or obtaining a demolition permit and removing the structure.”
The decision also stated the owners failed to pay costs of $4,271.40 in the 2013 order.
Fernandez’s decision represents substantially less than the relief sought by the city.
At a May 4 hearing, the city asked the magistrate to fine the owners $148,500 or $250 a day beginning Sept. 16, 2014, the date when the 12th Circuit Judicial Court upheld the code board order.
Fernandez imposed the $50 daily fine from July 22, 2015, the date the 2nd District Court of Appeal denied the owners a rehearing.
Throughout three years of litigation, the owners have contended former city officials led them to believe a permit was unnecessary.
Court decisions thus far have sided with the city. The tree house is located seaward of the erosion control line setback, where building is typically not allowed, particularly without permits.
The owners looked at obtaining an after-the-fact permit from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in 2012, but the DEP required the city’s assurance it didn’t violate local setbacks.
A case about the tree house remains on the docket at the courthouse, where opposing motions ask a judge to decide whether Holmes Beach voters can be asked to grandfather the structure on a municipal ballot.
The summary judgment motions are set for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 6, at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.
How would AMI look like if those regulations (CCCL, permitting) was in effect 50 years ago?
No AMI as we know and love it. Instead just cookie cutter box houses, like they are being build every day now. Elevated and ugly.
So the question is not if this tree house should be torn down. This is ridiculous. Don’t we have betters things to do?
The question is, how to tear down those stupid regulations and let people bring their souls and charme back on the Island.
The tree house might be illegal now, but it’s the first step to question the rules.