Photo by Erin

Photo by Erin

By now, you’ve probably heard: the parents of that princess-like treehouse in Capitol Hill lost their case. After all, it was covered in The Washington Post, NBC4, WUSA9, and elsewhere.

Capital Hill News, which first broke the story, reports that DDOT’s Public Space Committee held a hearing on the issue yesterday and denied a permit that would allow the couple to keep the treehouse partly on public space. The family has vowed to rebuild it entirely on their property.

To recap:

  • Homeowners Ellen Psychas and husband Bing Yee wanted to build an idyllic treehouse for their two daughters to enjoy, and they wanted to make sure they had the appropriate permissions to do so.

  • The couple got conflicting advice from city agencies about what kinds of permits, if any, they needed to build the structure about 20 inches over their property line.

  • The pair “passed out fliers alerting neighbors that they were building it and got no response. They also hired an arborist to help them avoid harming the tree, then bought $300 worth of “eco-friendly tree-building hardware,” according to The Post

    • .

  • After construction on the treehouse began, a city inspector issued a “balcony permit” and they proceeded building the structure.

  • Neighbors, who argued the treehouse is a blight on the alley, claimed the permit was issued incorrectly and worried about possible code violations. They began a full-court press to get it rescinded

  • The editorials rolled in.

  • ANC6B voted to recommend that DDOT deny the permit the agency issued. “It seems to me the applicant has been consistently and inappropriately dismissive of the neighbors’ concerns. The opposition of the neighbors is not retaliatory, not anti-child, and not generational as he stated to me today. The question is whether this particular special public space should be used for this purpose,” said one of the commissioners, according to Capitol Hill News

  • DDOT’s Public Space Committee ruled the treehouse cannot continue jutting over the couple’s property line

But the matter, while legally resolved, has hardly resolved the spirit of the case, as the debate rages on as to whether this was a case of NIMBY-ism (or rather Not In My Alley-ism) run amok, or if the family really did go over the line—literally and figuratively. What say you?

Should the city have let the treehouse stay put?

Yes. The neighbors are busybody, childhood-hating monsters and the family should turn the treehouse into a tiny discotheque as revenge.
Yes. But only because what was done was done and the neighbors should have just let it go.
No. Rules are rules, even if the city gave terrible instructions.
No. These people are monsters for encroaching on public space and then acting like their neighbors are childhood hating busybodies.
Why are we still talking about this godforsaken treehouse?

Poll Maker

Filed Under: capitol hill, capitol hill treehouse, nimby, poll, treehouse,