Arlington Heights treehouse splits neighbors

When one man's treehouse is a neighbor's “monstrosity, who prevails?

Joe Belmonte says he went through a lot building a two-story treehouse for his children, and he's proud of it.

At least a couple of his Arlington Heights neighbors don't like it, and the mini-house with its wraparound porch and charming dormers could inspire a change in zoning ordinances to regulate these icons of childhood.

A neighbor of the Belmontes, Norbert Piotrowski, recently appeared at a village board meeting to say his neighbor had built a “monstrosity. He acknowledged any laws Arlington Heights passed now would have little effect on Belmonte's treehouse, but he argues that the village must regulate future treehouses.

Belmonte's saga started in the spring of 2009 when his son, Joey, now 9, said he would rather have a treehouse than a trip to the Indianapolis 500. Father and son sketched the design, and Belmonte said he told Piotrowski that he was building a treehouse and promised it would look nice.

Piotrowski didn't really want to talk about the treehouse for this story, but he did dispute some of Belmonte's version of events, including the builder's assertion he would have worked out design issues if his neighbor had approached him rather than complain to the village. Village officials back Piotrowski's claim that he was not the only neighbor to complain.

In any event, Belmonte, a professional salesman, admits the house got ... pretty big.

And the village did get involved, at one point issuing a stop-work order, although Belmonte said the paperwork never got physically attached to the structure.

Belmonte's own mother told him to give up the treehouse because it was causing so much trouble, and his wife, Julie, had envisioned something simpler when she learned her husband was building a treehouse.

“I was too close to it, Belmonte said. “I couldn't see the forest for the tree. It was really big and really high.

But when he checked village codes, Belmonte found nothing about treehouses.

Belmonte's reading of village code is correct, said Charles Witherington-Perkins, director of planning and community development.

Village codes do not specifically define treehouses and permits are not required for building them, but they are limited in height, size and setback requirements under the same rules governing playhouses and other accessory structures, Witherington-Perkins said.

The village's planning and zoning staff plans to propose code changes for many different subjects, including treehouses, he said. Besides a definition of what constitutes a “treehouse, there will be specific regulations possibly limiting their size.

Returning to Belmonte's story, he said a visit from a village representative persuaded him to build footings and posts to support the treehouse.

He rented a one-man post hole digger and “learned I'm only half a man. It was way more than I could handle.

After the treehouse was built, the village required Belmonte to hire a surveyor at a cost of about $700 to check the building's location and height to be sure it met village codes.

It did not. The rules say it must sit 5 feet from the lot line and not exceed 15 feet tall. This treehouse was 2 or 3 feet from the lot line and 18 feet tall.

This required another trip to a rental store for industrial jacks and equipment to drag the house away from the lot line.

“I was lucky I wasn't killed, Belmonte said. “It fell over and almost hit me. It weighs 1,000 to 2,000 pounds.

Yes, moving the structure required new holes and more concrete, not to mention cutting the posts to lower the house. This time his wife, Julie, helped with a two-man post digger.

“It was like the Keystone Kops, he said. “It was throwing Julie around.

But it's safe, he asserts.

“The kids love it. My daughter's (Tessa) in seventh grade; she has pizza parties, he says enthusiastically, saying he wishes he could have had something like it as a child.

“It's a great hobby project to do, he said, “I think it looks pretty nice.

Belmonte's treehouse might be one of the most elaborate in Arlington Heights, but it's certainly not the only one. Driving around town one can spy at least 100 treehouses in the village, including the platform types built by kids, said Charles Kobus, the permit, inspections and license official in the building department.

For Village Manager Bill Dixon, the controversy has a familiar ring.

When Dixon first became city manager of St. Louis Park, Minn., in 1988, a hullabaloo was under way over a seven-level treehouse that one homeowner had built in his backyard. The controversy garnered national attention even The New York Times sent a reporter to the Minneapolis suburb to write about it. For the record, that treehouse is still standing, more than two decades later.

And whether the Arlington Heights village board will agree with regulating treehouses further is unclear.

“From firsthand experience I think we should be very careful when we get into legislating in that area, said Dixon. “A father or mother is trying to do something for their children's recreation and here comes along government telling them they can't do it.