NY Appellate Court Dismisses Conviction for Unpermitted Treehouse Construction Based on Insufficient Accusatory Instrument

This post was authored by Amy Lavine, Esq.

A New York appellate court ruled in December 2019 that a property owner was improperly convicted under a village zoning ordinance for constructing a tree house without a permit. Although the village code prohibited the construction of a “building” without a building permit, the court found that the accusatory instruments failed to allege facts establishing that the tree house constituted a “building,” which was defined under the village code as “[a] structure having a roof supported by columns or walls for the shelter, support or enclosure of persons, animals or chattels.” The factual portions of the accusatory instruments also failed to sufficiently allege that the defendant had constructed the treehouse, since the only notation made was “WITHOUT A PERMIT — TREEHOUSE.” Accordingly, the court determined that the accusatory instruments failed to allege each element of the offense and the judgments of conviction had to be dismissed. 

People v Lepper, 2019 NY Slip Op 52117(U) (N.Y. App. Term, 2d Dept. 12/19/19)