The controversial Holmes Beach treehouse remains intact more than a month after a court-ordered deadline for its demolition.
But the owners are not facing legal repercussions for the delay — yet.
12th Circuit Judge Edward Nicholas said during an Aug. 8 compliance status conference that he would not impose penalties on the treehouse owners, Richard Hazen and Lynn
Tran-Hazen, despite its delayed demolition at their home at 2818 Ave. E., where they operate Angelinos Sea Lodge.
The beachfront treehouse was built in 2011 and has been the center of litigation since 2013, when the city issued code violations for the structure.
The Hazens filed litigation in defense of the structure but Nicholas ruled in February that it must be demolished.
Nicholas’ order allowed the city to demolish the structure at the expense of the owners after 72 hours’ notice if they did not remove it by July 3.
On July 30, the city issued a $205.88 permit to the owners to demolish the structure but it had not received a demolition schedule as of Aug. 7, according to city planning and zoning administrator Chad Minor.
Attorney Fred Moore of the Bradenton-based Blalock Walters law firm represented the property owners during the compliance status conference.
Moore said that a contractor was gearing up for the demolition but was delayed by Tropical Storm Debby. He added that he had not yet received an update on the demo schedule.
Nicholas asked if there were any issues with deadlines for the permits issued to remove the structure.
Moore said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s permit expired July 31 but was extended through the end of September.
The city’s permit will expire six months after issuance, according to Minor.
Attorney Randy Mora of the Clearwater-based Trask Daigneault law firm, who represents the city on the treehouse matter, acknowledged the property owners’ good faith efforts to bring the matter to a resolution.
Nevertheless, he said the city was “initiating the process” of handling the demolition.
“As it stands here now, nearly 120 days post your order, we do not have compliance,” Mora said. “The city had hoped at this stage to avoid the need — for a number of reasons — to incur that cost and effort, but we are prepared to do so and have begun those machinations.”
“We hope the good faith assurances will move forward,” he added.
Nicholas said that the treehouse owners displayed good faith efforts to remove the structure, so he would not move forward with contempt of court proceedings against them.
“I’m not in a position to be able to suggest that the respondents have been unwilling to comply with my order,” he said. “It seems to me that we are getting closer to the point of compliance.”
Nicholas added that he would not schedule another compliance status conference, but he asked Mora to contact the court to schedule a hearing to discuss potential sanctions if the property owners remained non-compliant.
“I’m satisfied that sufficient steps have been undertaken, albeit somewhat slowly and after some delay … that suggest to me that demolition is imminent,” he said.
There were no upcoming court hearings scheduled for the case as of Aug. 9, according to online records.