Toronto orders family to remove elaborate boat-treehouse that cost $30K | Construction and DIY projects | Forums

that sucks but you got to check your zoning laws

John Alpeza built a boat to get away from all the distractions that come with living in Toronto.

But the city has ordered him to dismantle the boat, saying it violates zoning bylaws. 

John Alpeza stands in front of the boat-treehouse he built for his children outside his Toronto home. (Makda Ghebreslassie/CBC)

At the heart of the dispute is where he decided to build it: in a tree in his backyard.

The boat-treehouse sits atop a dead tree in Alpeza's Bloor West Village backyard, stretching beyond the tree and overlooking his fence. Alpeza admits that he did not have a building permit when he constructed it.

After filing paperwork last fall, he was told in a phone call from the city last week that he was rejected by three different city departments. If he doesn't take it down, the city will charge him and get a court order to remove the boat-treehouse.

He has vowed not to take it down.

It cost Alpeza $30,000 to build the boat-treehouse. At 108 square feet, it has retractable windows, swing ropes, a hammock, an eating area, four different entrances and enough seating for his two children, who are eight and 10, and their friends. 

more http://www.cbc.ca/ne.....-1.3543497