HOLMES BEACH – Treehouse owner Huong Lynn Tran isn’t answering her phone much these days, afraid of more calls like the one she received earlier this month.
“Everybody on this Island hates you and can’t wait until that treehouse is knocked down,” an anonymous woman caller shouted into her voice mail. “Do you realize there are hungry children right here in Manatee County and you have the nerve to try to set up a GoFundMe page for $200,000 for your legal fees?”
Tran and her husband, Richard Hazen, have accumulated the legal fees defending the elevated, two-story beachfront treehouse they built without permits in 2011, partially – and unlawfully – landward of the erosion control line at Angelinos Sea Lodge, their vacation resort at 2818 Ave. E.
Tran says the call is not the only threatening call they have received.
“This lady claimed many people on the island are just like her and hate us, the idiots with the treehouse,” said Tran, who, with Hazen, has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. “Why do some people in the city hate us, and the non-native Australian pine, and the treehouse that is now part of the tree? The legal money that the city spent just to force the removal of a beautiful Australian pine tree with a treehouse in it can be used to feed hungry children in Manatee County.”
The couple named both the city of Holmes Beach and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as respondents in the petition before the nation’s highest court. Both responded to the petition last week with legal briefs.
In its brief to the court filed March 26, the city denies the couple’s claim that they have been deprived of “equal access to federal courts to seek equal justice, relief and secure their constitutional rights” and asserts that the city gave the couple fair notice of the consequences of failing to correct the code issues associated with the treehouse.
The city has maintained since 2011 that when the couple asked a previous building inspector whether they needed permits for a treehouse, they did not disclose that it would be two stories, 10 feet off the ground and supported by pilings disguised as tree trunks.
Earlier this month, the couple’s fight with the city took a new turn when a special magistrate ruled that Tran and Hazen will not be allowed to lease their vacation rentals until they settle code compliance issues with the city regarding the treehouse. Since the city has decided the couple is not eligible for an after-the-fact permit due to lack of compliance with Florida building codes, demolition is the only remaining option, according to the city building department.
In its brief to the court filed on March 26, DEP agrees with Holmes Beach that the Supreme Court should not hear the case for numerous legal reasons, including that previous lower court decisions were not in conflict and that the appeals court acted appropriately to dismiss the couple’s appeal because evidence was lacking.
“We pay lots of tax money each year in property tax and resort taxes,” Tran said. “Stop wasting our money to fight us. Use our tax money to feed the hungry children, fix broken sidewalks, fix flooded streets, and restore our civil rights and our constitutional rights.”
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