Board denies development permit appeal from Killarney treehouse owners

Appeal denied in treehouse dispute The owners of a disputed treehouse in Killarney have had their appeal denied because it was filed a day late. Mark Villani explains.

The Calgary Subdivision & Development Appeal Board met on Thursday morning to determine if a Calgary family would be able to keep its treehouse after a dispute with area neighbours.

Paula Rowe and Colin Whyte built the treehouse nine years ago along one side of their property in the southwest community of Killarney.

In 2017, a developer purchased the neighbour’s home to tear it down and build a fourplex and according to documents filed with the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board (SDAB), there were safety concerns and worries about the overall height.

“It’s a height issue,” said Rowe. “We love our treehouse and now this is a privacy thing.”

“It’s frustrating to say the least, it’s been there for almost a decade so it’s frustrating a developer would come in and tell us what to do,” said Whyte. "He never said anything to me about safety, his introduction to me was that he was the developer and that the treehouse had to come down."

A development permit application for the treehouse was denied by the city and on Thursday morning, the SDAB met to discuss an appeal filed by the homeowners.

The SDAB decided that a development permit will not be issued and said appeals must be filed within 21 days and that the matter is now closed.

“Today we were at the Subdivision Development Appeal Board to have a conversation about an appeal against a treehouse," said Maurie Loewen, Senior Planning Technician, City of Calgary.  "The appeal board ruled that the appeal was filed a day late so they were unable to hear the item and therefore the item is closed."

"Based on the fact the appeal was rejected because it was filed a day late, I thought it was all good and it was news to me because the city’s payment plan took my $100," said Rowe. "So to me, the appeal was good, the city took my $100 and I carried on."

The couple asked to be reimbursed for the $100 that was spent to file the appeal and that was also denied.

Rowe and Whyte did not get a chance to speak before the board on Thursday.

“If they’re going to deny me, why didn’t they just send an email so everyone can just carry on with their day? Instead of coming here just to be told we’re a day late and then not even reimburse me, that’s outrageous,” Rowe said.

The couple say they are considering their options but that they will continue the fight.

Loewen says the appeal period is over and that he hopes that they can work to find a solution.

"The appeal period has ended on this application so to create a new appeal permit they would need to apply for a development permit so what we would prefer here is that we don’t end up at the appeal board and we can find a solution."

He says the couple has a few options; they can bring the treehouse into compliance or come up with an alternate proposal for consideration and apply for a new development permit.

The city says anyone who is thinking about building a treehouse on their property should give 311 a call or visit the calgary.ca website to learn more about the rules.

(With files from Jordan Kanygin and Mark Villani)