HOLMES BEACH – The U.S. Supreme Court has dealt another legal blow to the owners of the beachfront treehouse at Angelinos Sea Lodge.
Owners Lynn Tran and Richard Hazen had appealed to the court to issue a writ of certiorari in their case against the city of Holmes Beach. The owners have been fighting to keep their treehouse in its Australian pine perch in front of their home and four-unit vacation rental property for nearly a decade.
The court denied the appeal in a document issued May 3. It is the second time the court has refused to hear a matter regarding the treehouse, the first time being in 2017.
The denial from the highest court in the land is the second setback to the treehouse owners’ case in less than a month. The first came from the Holmes Beach special magistrate, who ruled during an April code compliance hearing that Tran and Hazen violated the city’s vacation rental ordinance. The magistrate said the owners were renting their four units without valid vacation rental certificates issued by the city.
The couple applied for VRC renewals in late 2020 but were denied due to outstanding code compliance issues on the property, namely the treehouse and associated code fines. Until the fines are settled and the existing issues are remedied – with either the treehouse being removed or the city allowing it to stay – the VRCs cannot be issued.
Speaking on behalf of Tran and Hazen during the special magistrate hearing, attorney Bruce Minnick said the city cannot expect his clients to be able to pay the outstanding fines, more than $200,000, without being able to rent the units that provide their income.
Special magistrate Michael Connolly ruled the couple violated the city’s ordinances, ordering them to immediately stop renting the units and imposing a $125 per day fine. The fine is in addition to a previously issued fine of $50 per day.
In a May 6 email to The Sun, Tran said she and Hazen are disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court denied their petition. She added they will continue to pursue every legal avenue open to them to try and save their treehouse and hang on to their Holmes Beach property unless city leaders are willing to work on a compromise with them.
The couple still has cases against the city and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection pending in Manatee County 12th Judicial Circuit Court.
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