HOLMES BEACH – City commissioners rejected Lynn Tran and Richard Hazen’s request to reduce the $183,350 code enforcement lien the city placed on their Angelinos Sea Lodge property for unpaid fines related to the non-permitted construction of a beachfront treehouse on their resort property several years ago.
After the city prevailed in a lengthy and costly legal battle, the treehouse was removed from the resort property at 103 29th St. on Aug. 29, 2024, but the unpaid fines associated with that Holmes Beach code enforcement case remain unpaid.
On April 16, Tran and Hazen sent a letter to Code Compliance Chief James Thomas asking him and the city to consider waiving or reducing the $300,000 in fines they’ve accumulated to date, including more than $186,000 in additional and still running fines for offering their resort units as short-term vacation rentals without a city-issued vacation rental certificate.
Their letter cites financial hardships created by the city-imposed fines and additional financial hardships caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and says, “The penalties are unpayable until we can sell or die.”
On May 23, City Attorney Erica Augello sent the mayor and city commissioners a six-page memo that said, “You are being asked to consider the reduction of a code enforcement lien relative to the unpermitted construction of a treehouse structure.”
The memo says a judge imposed a $50 per day fine that started on July 22, 2015, and continued until the treehouse was removed on Aug. 29, 2024. This resulted in code enforcement fines and lien totaling $183,350.
The memo states that in 2021 the city instituted a separate code enforcement action against Tran and Hazen for engaging in short-term vacation rental activities at their resort without a vacation rental certificate.
According to the memo, when the treehouse was removed and the treehouse case concluded on Sept. 4, 2024, Tran and Hazen could have applied for a vacation rental certificate the next day but did not. In 2021, the couple admitted during a special magistrate hearing that they were renting their units and would continue doing so without a vacation rental certificate. The special magistrate found those rental activities violated city code and imposed a $125 per day fine that began March, 18, 2021 and remained ongoing as of last week.
“To date, the Hazens have not complied with city code and secured a vacation rental certificate even though the property is now in compliance relative to the structure (the removed treehouse). Those fines continue to accrue until the property ceases to be rented or the Hazens secure a vacation rental certificate. The fines and potential lien related to this case are not before the commission and cannot be reduced at this time, as the property is not in compliance,” Augello’s memo says.
Lien reduction denied
When appearing before the commission May 27 and seeking a reduction of the treehouse lien amount owed, Tran said they came as residents, not adversaries, and their intent wasn’t to re-argue the treehouse case.
Tran suggested possibly reducing the $183,350 treehouse lien to $18,000 and allowing that amount to be paid over time.
Commissioner Carol Soustek served in office for the entirety of the treehouse dispute and she said Tran and Hazen filed at least 14 legal actions against the city.
“That’s why the city’s legal fees are so high,” she said of the city’s legal fees that Augello said exceeded $220,000.
Regarding the request to reduce the treehouse fine-related lien, Soustek said, “I cannot be sympathetic to you. You had opportunity after opportunity to stop the legal action and you chose to continue. I cannot do away with that.”
Soustek said she would support the couple working out a payment plan with the city but she would not support reducing the treehouse lien amount owed.
“I will not wipe one penny because it was not the city who caused this,” she said.
Regarding the vacation rental fines, Soustek asked Tran if they’re still renting out their resort units.
“I have to pay bills. Yes, I am,” Tran said. “I have chosen to violate that because we can’t be out in the street not paying bills.”
When addressing the treehouse fines, Commissioner Terry Schaefer said, “We made it pretty clear that we’re here today because of your actions and not the city’s actions.”
The treehouse lien reduction discussion ended with the commission voting 5-0 to deny the lien reduction request.
Rental violations
Augello said the issue before the commission that day pertained only to the treehouse lien and not the ongoing vacation rental fines that Director of Development Services Chad Minor said totaled $186,129 as of that day.
Augello said Tran and Hazen can apply for a vacation rental certificate anytime they want because removing the treehouse remedied that violation. She said the resort property would first have to pass a vacation rental inspection and she didn’t know if the resort property, in its current condition, would pass that inspection. Tran said she would apply for the vacation rental certificate the following day.
When contacted on June 2, Code Compliance Chief James Thomas said the couple did apply for a vacation rental certificate but the inspection hadn’t happened yet.
