Tampa businessman jailed over backyard guest house at center of 5-year legal battle

Homeowner jailed over guest house construction

A Tampa homeowner who got permits from the city to build in his backyard ended up in jail for it. FOX 13's Briona Arradondo reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa homeowner started building a guest house, but a neighbor questioned whether it was legal based on the lot, leading to five years of court proceedings.

Michael Martin, a Tampa businessman, started building a guest house in his backyard in 2021. At that time, one of his next-door neighbors, the Babbitt family, noticed some changes.

"They saw some footers being poured in this block that was a city block and wasn't buildable. As soon as they saw that, they questioned the city and Mr. Martin as to what was going on," said Trae Weingardt, the Babbitt family’s attorney.

The other side:

Weingardt represents the Babbitt family in their lawsuit against Martin and the city of Tampa.  They claim the guest house wasn’t legally allowed to be built on that lot. But the city approved and issued permits to allow Martin to build the structure in his backyard. Attorneys for Martin said he spent about $1 million to build the guest house, a pool and a pickleball court.

The backstory:

The situation has spent five years going through the court system, with a civil trial including testimony, judgments in favor of the Babbitts, and several appeals by Martin to reconsider those decisions.

The latest decision by a judge was to demolish the guest house, the pool and the pickleball court. Martin appealed again, this time asking the city to re-plot his land to allow what he’s built to stay.

What they're saying:

"We'd like to see the city do what the city is supposed to do, which is process these applications and take these steps. Again, remembering that this is a project that has gone before city council twice," said Sam Heller, Martin’s civil attorney.

Heller said the demolition of Martin’s backyard could cost at least $800,000, so Martin refused while the appeals are still going through the courts, and ended up in jail without bond for contempt of court.

"I really admire Mr. Martin for telling this judge, no, I'm going to stay in jail if the alternative is to destroy this home, I am going to [stay] in jail until my due process rights are carried through," said Richard Escobar, a criminal defense attorney who is representing Martin now that he’s in jail.

An appeals court is figuring out whether the judge made the correct decision.

Dig deeper:

"From the Babbitts' perspective, whoever carries the blame or shares the blame, it wasn't the Babbitts. And all they want is the block restored to the way the law requires it to be," said Weingardt. 

Martin’s attorneys said they are waiting on city approval to see if the land will be changed to be buildable, and they are waiting on an appeal to allow Martin to go home. 

"Mr. Martin should not be in jail because of what happened in a civil court proceeding when there are alternatives in order to make this right," said Escobar. 

Babbitt’s attorney said they did not want Martin to end up in jail. Weingardt said the case has gone through seven different judges, and they all ruled in favor of them that the structure should not have been built as the plot was nonbuildable. 

FOX 13 reached out to the city of Tampa with questions about the permitting process for the case, and a city spokesperson said, "Due to the ongoing litigation, we are unable to offer a comment at this time."

Neighbors, family and friends gathered Thursday with signs lining Westshore Boulevard, saying "Free Michael" and "Fix the System."

They said Martin did what he was supposed to do with permitting and builders, calling to fix the system and raise awareness. 

"I'd like to see this situation resolved as soon as possible in a respectful way and also in a way that makes sense for both parties, right? I think it's gone way too far," said Nick Meoli, a neighbor who supports Martin.