Judge bars election in treehouse case

A judge has ruled against letting Holmes Beach voters decide the fate of a controversial treehouse.

Twelfth Circuit Judge Don T. Hall issued a final order this week in the case involving Richard Hazen and Lynn Tran, who have been embroiled in a fight with the city to keep their treehouse.

Built in 2011, the $25,000 structure became the center of local controversy two years later when the Holmes Beach Code Enforcement Board found Hazen and Tran in violation of multiple sections of the land development code. The board also said the husband and wife failed to fulfill building permit requirements.

According to court documents, the treehouse is 400 to 500 square feet in size and is constructed on two levels. It is built in and around a large Australian pine tree on the couple’s property. Hazen and Tran own Angelinos Sea Lodge, 103 29th St., Holmes Beach.

“I guess the court just doesn’t want us to do petitions, so that’s basically it,” Tran said Wednesday. “We did a petition in June 2013 and we got enough signatures for the treehouse to be grandfathered — to keep the treehouse. The voters want to keep the treehouse and then the state came up with some new statute that was signed after we did the petition, but it was retroactive.”

According to Hall’s ruling, the proposed initiative ordinance grants building rights Hazen and Tran would not otherwise have under the city’s regulations and therefore acts as a development order. Per Florida Statute 163.3167(8)(a), an initiative or referendum process in regard to any development order is prohibited.

“Any initiative vote on the defendants’ proposed ordinance would be in violation of said statute,” the ruling reads.

Jim Dye, who is representing Holmes Beach, said he is pleased the judge saw things the city’s way.

“If the judge had determined that the initiative was proper, then the next step would have been to submit it to the voters,” he said.

At a meeting in early May, Tran testified her husband was told by a Holmes Beach building official in 2011 there was no regulation for treehouses in the city and they didn't need a permit to build one. At one point, she grew emotional as she spoke about the measures she has taken to save her treehouse, including the petition that garnered more than 4,700 supporters. Tran said she goes to the treehouse for meditation and yoga and only she, her husband and family members go inside.

Tran said Wednesday she doesn’t know what’s next.

“We just got it Monday so we really have no clue what’s next yet,” she said. “It’s just too soon for us to decide what’s next. We’re going to take our time and think about it... the voters can’t vote, so I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Holmes Beach Mayor Bob Johnson said the city is now letting the case run its legal course.

“I think we’re winding down here and getting to an end,” he said. “But we’ll see.”

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Judge bars election in treehouse case."