A Florida grandmother is being forced to demolish her Miami treehouse she has lived in for 17 years after racking up $40,000 in fines over the past eight years for “unsafe” construction.
Since 2015, Shawnee Chasser, 72, has asked her neighbors to report her property to Miami-Dade County and building code enforcement.
Once law enforcement discovered his treehouse was unsafe, they gave him two options: take it down or upgrade it.
She has decided to stop the fighting and will begin the process of demolishing her house on September 18, but living inside is not an option for Chasser.
Staying out, Chasser will build his next home to code and with the proper permits.
Making new additions to her treehouse over the years, she moved her room higher up the tree, with a kitchen and living room on the ground, a pool with a water fountain, and a new bedroom that she built inside a Tiki hut.
She also shares her outdoor home with her raccoon named Coonie.
The grandmother always lived outside and told 7Miami News: ‘I must hear the rain and the wind at night. If I don’t, I go crazy and get claustrophobic.
She bought the property almost 20 years ago for her son, but after he passed away, she decided to move in.
More recently, she has been living in the elements with her two grandchildren in what she calls her “oasis.”
She also shares her outdoor home with her raccoon named Coonie.
Making new additions to her treehouse over the years, she moved her room higher up the tree, with a kitchen and living room on the ground, a pool with a water fountain, and a new bedroom that she built inside a Tiki hut.
The new living room and kitchen have become a sanctuary not only for her, but also for her children and grandchildren.
Chase said Local10 News: ‘It has everything I could need.’
According to GoFundMe which she created herself, Chasser was fined $11,320 plus additional fees of $11,481.50 in one day for violating Chapter 33 of the Florida Zoning Law and “ unauthorized use in a single-family residential district.”
The new living room and kitchen have become a sanctuary not only for her, but also for her children and grandchildren.
So far, her fundraising page has raised a total of $1,205 in donations to help her “comply with the Code, save her home, and still be able to feed and raise her two grandchildren.”
Miami-Dade County told CBS News Miami it has not taken any action and is working to get its property up to date and up to code.
He also said that even after she left the determined “unsfae” structure, more fines came and the country tried to convince her to move again.
After years of fighting, Chasser is ready to tear down her home and find a sense of peace.
“Right now I’m trying to erase it. I’m just tired of not having my own life,” Chasser told Local10 News.
More recently, she has been living in the elements with her two grandchildren in what she calls her “oasis.”
To demolish her current exterior home in Biscayne Gardens, Chasser will have to pay an additional $30,000 on top of other expenses she has already incurred, according to CBS News Miami.
On her GoFundMe page, she detailed all the money she’s spent so far on her oasis.
“Contractor $2,000, architect $2,500, attorney $2,500, certificate of Seminole lineage $800, repairs and tare of kitchen (sic) $10,000, structure of new house $5,000, to allow tare ( sic) of the old tree house.’
To pay his mortgage and utility bills, Chasser rents his home to more than five tenants.
Miami-Dade County told CBS News Miami that they have not taken any action and are working to bring its property up to code and up to code.
So far, her fundraising page has raised a total of $1,205 in donations to help her “comply with the Code, save her home, and still be able to feed and raise her two grandchildren.”
His donation goal is set at $50,000, which will be used to pay his accumulated fines and help finance his next outdoor structure.
