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City sinks pirate ship
Categories: Kids 8-11, Fun & Activities, In The News
I have a very short list of places I would live if I couldn't live in San Francisco -- basically, it's the Russian River area just north of here and Vancouver, British Columbia (with Portland, Oregon a maybe). Some of the lustre has come off one of those choices, however, now that a Vancouver judge has ordered a pirate ship treehouse dismantled.
Despite admiring the workmanship, a judge decided the treehouse -- complete with plastic cannons -- violated city bylaws. So, Architect Andrew Dewberry had to explain to his sons, nine-year-old Jack and seven-year-old Sam, that the treehouse would have to come down. "We wanted to sleep in it over the summer one time," Jack said, as he watched his treehouse being taken down, "but we didn't get around to it and now we can't."
It's a shame when accommodations can't be made for the benefit of kids. If I ran a city, I would make darn sure that parents were allowed to build their kids a treehouse if they wanted.
Despite admiring the workmanship, a judge decided the treehouse -- complete with plastic cannons -- violated city bylaws. So, Architect Andrew Dewberry had to explain to his sons, nine-year-old Jack and seven-year-old Sam, that the treehouse would have to come down. "We wanted to sleep in it over the summer one time," Jack said, as he watched his treehouse being taken down, "but we didn't get around to it and now we can't."
It's a shame when accommodations can't be made for the benefit of kids. If I ran a city, I would make darn sure that parents were allowed to build their kids a treehouse if they wanted.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
lordfussy 9-23-2008 @ 8:10PM
What a shame and what a joke america has become. I don't know which one is sadder, the anal retentive neighborhood hall monitor who called code enforcement and complained, or the well paid, unelected, overly empowered city department that, on the basis of a complaint from one anal retentive, overruled the basic right of a family to enjoy their property in whatever way they saw fit. Have any of you dealt with a code enforcement department recently? A group of people wearing badges and waving a book of rules that Solomon couldn't interpret have been appointed and made, essentially, demigods whose proclaimations are accepted by the courts as the word of God.
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Uly 9-23-2008 @ 9:37PM
This is Vancouver. Part of Canada.
p8riot 9-24-2008 @ 4:06PM
So how long was this city by-law in effect? I bet it was before the dad built the tree house. So who's to blame? Is it the city or is it the dad who decided to flaunt the law and build this awesome treehouse, only to have to tear it down and make his kids sad? If the father, who is described as an architect, didn't know the building codes and laws of his own community, then he's not much of an architect. It's good for that family that they live in Canada. If this had happened in America, there would have been a lawsuit by the Homeowner's Association, the neighbors and probably the city as well.
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