Going in circles
A man in Georgia spent the last four years building his dream treehouse only for the government to tell him that he wasn’t allowed to live there. They provided him with a solution, of course, which was to make it bigger, for some reason. However, this would open a whole can of bureaucratic worms that the man is wholeheartedly trying to avoid.
@southernadventures1
MAKE IT MAKE SENSE #treehouse #fyp #diy #build #tinyhouse
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The ridiculousness of the situation was thoroughly explained by Bruno, who runs the Southern Adventures social media accounts. He is a custom treehouse builder, and his content revolves around his profession, often going viral. The clip attached above wasn’t the exception, as it garnered 1.5 million views, 208,300 likes, and more than 6,000 comments.
The Georgia man detailed how exactly he was prohibited from living in his dream treehouse he spent four years building. According to him, while he was allowed to do so at first, once county seats changed, the decision was reversed, and he was asked to get a permit.
For a year and a half, Bruno fought to get the permit. Eventually he did, but with a condition: he needed to make the treehouse bigger, up to 12 square feet to meet the county’s minimum size requirements. In other words, so that the county could tax him more, he said. However, expanding the size of the treehouse would lead to a whole different issue.
“Now they say that my parents cannot build a house on the same property, which is over 100 acres, by the way, because now the treehouse is the primary residence, so we can’t do another house,” Bruno explained.
Bureaucracy At Its Finest
Again, he met with the county authorities and tried to explain his situation. Given that he has not yet expanded his treehouse, it still qualifies as an accessory structure. However, the county told him that he wasn’t allowed to build his parents’ house because their ordinance prohibits building an accessory structure before the main house.
“We’re trying to build it, but you’re saying no. So we go in circles and circles, and they’re just like, sorry, it’s impossible. You cannot build another house on the property,” the Georgia man added.
Knowing that a variance would end up being denied, Bruno found a “loophole.” The only apparent way to actually build the house is to divide the property on paper. Then his parents would pull a permit for their property so they can build their house. Finally, they would reassemble the properties, making the treehouse an accessory structure of the main house.
“So we had to pay surveyors thousands of dollars to draw invisible lines across the property so that my parents can build on the exact same property,” he said. “And then when they finish, we will pay them thousands more dollars to erase the invisible lines and put the properties back together. Otherwise, I have to nearly double the size of the treehouse.”
Worst of all, he was being taxed for living in the treehouse, which he was not. At the same time, he was prohibited from doing so. He added, “Make it make sense.“
Reactions
The bureaucratic nightmare left many in the comments completely overwhelmed. One said, “Rules for the sake of rules.” Another one added, “America, land of the free.”
Others told the Georgia man that he could have avoided the issue altogether in the first place. One wrote, “Your mistake was telling the county.” Another one agreed, saying, “If it’s on 100 acres of land, I never would have said anything to them at all.“
Bruno ended his clip saying that he was going to play by the rules. He will end up paying thousands on invisible lines to, eventually, reassemble the properties back together.
