It’s my tree, let me be: Woman tries to save leafy abode

The 65-year-old grandmother who once protested the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons says she hates the oppressive feeling of walls and air conditioning, loves the open breeze and relishes the connection to nature in lush, tropical surroundings.

Not long ago, Miami-Dade County code inspectors discovered the tree house, declared it unfit for human habitation and ordered it torn down.

[...] Chasser is fighting to keep her arboreal home, which is two stories, with a sink with running water, a stove, a refrigerator, a computer and a television.

“It’s an unfortunate situation that must be corrected for the safety of the residents and neighbors,” county officials said in a statement.

“Shawnee’s tree house is a peaceful, harmless structure that hurts nobody,” said Bargil, who works for the nonprofit Institute for Justice law firm that advocates for private-property rights.

The lot features a traditional house, large pond with a waterfall where Chasser can bathe, tropical foliage, a grass-roofed tiki hut, and fanciful signs such as “Please Do Not Feed the Fears” and “Be Here Now Street.”