Tampa father’s family, legal team speak after arrest over backyard guest house, despite having city permits
Tampa dad jailed over neighborhood backyard dispute
A Tampa father's family is looking for clarity after he was jailed over a backyard guest house dispute. FOX 13's Ariel Plasencia reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - Michael Martin’s family, friends and legal team held a press conference Tuesday after they said they’ve been getting inquiries about the case.
The backstory:
Martin built a two-story guest house, pool and pickleball court in his Beach Park backyard after receiving approved permits from the city of Tampa. But following a lawsuit by neighbors, a judge ordered Martin to demolish everything.
When the guest house, pool and pickleball court were not demolished, Martin was found in contempt and arrested.
"There seems to be a lot of confusion, a lot of questions about how something like this could happen and how somebody could be arrested and have a warrant for their arrest in a civil case," Martin’s civil attorney, Sam Heller, said. "To have a circumstance like this is just highly unusual. So, wanted to be able to bring some clarity and to at least explain how we've gotten here."
Timeline:
On Tuesday, Heller held a copy of a Beach Park plat, where he highlighted in yellow the adjacent properties Martin bought back in 2017.
"And through a well-known and frequently used city process, [we] went through a couple of reconfigurations of those properties. Those went through city channels all the way up through city council vote in order to create the three lots that we see here today," Heller said.
Martin built his home on the middle lot, which includes a triangularly-shaped backyard. That’s because his backyard sits on what used to be a cul-de-sac — labeled in the plat as ‘E.’ That cul-de-sac was connected to an alley.
"Back in the 1950s, I believe it was, that alley was vacated. And the property owners all up and down took a little sliver of that alley. And what was left was this — it looks like a bit of a triangle, but this was the old, vacated turnaround," Heller said. "There's nothing unusual about improvements being built upon this old alleyway or the cul-de-sac."
Heller says the city approved and issued the proper permits, allowing Martin to build a two-story guest house, pickleball court and pool on this triangular section of land – his backyard.
The other side:
Court documents show Martin’s neighbors — the Babbitts — "Did not believe the structure was legal," referring to the two-story guest house.
The Babbitts argued "Block E" was set aside as a public area not appropriate for development – and the plat has never been abandoned or nullified.
They also said the guest house blocks sunlight and has diminished their property value, according to the documents.
The Babbitts filed a lawsuit against Martin and the city of Tampa.
"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," Trae Weingardt, the Babbitt family’s attorney, told FOX 13 in April.
FOX 13 reached out to Weingardt several times Tuesday but has not heard back yet.
Dig deeper:
Ultimately, the court sided with the Babbitts.
"The court ultimately agreed and said that the city went through the wrong process. It should have gone through this re-platting process," Heller said.
Martin was ordered to demolish the guest house and remove the pool and pickleball court, a project his team says could cost up to $800,000.
Martin appealed.
"We took the position that the demolition could not go forward because to do so would render his appeal moot. Because, if you destroy the property that is the subject of the appeal, there's nothing left to modify in terms of the injunction," Heller said.
As a result, Martin was found in contempt. He was arrested and remains in jail while his legal team appeals.
"We also intend and plan today to submit a renewed application to the city, asking them to move forward with an application for replat," Heller said.
What they're saying:
Mischa Martin, 18, said she was with her father when he got arrested last month.
"My dad's a very open, happy guy. I feel like he helps a lot of people in the Tampa community. He’s a businessman," Mischa Martin said.
Mischa said she’s unsure if he’ll be able to attend her upcoming graduation from the Academy of The Holy Names.
"With him not being here, it's been very hard for — I think I can speak for all of us — it's been very difficult," Mischa said.
"The only way for Mr. Martin to get out of jail currently is to complete the court order demolition, and there would not be a bond requirement. The appeal that we mentioned, the second appeal that I mentioned earlier — which challenges the court's jurisdiction to find him in contempt and to issue the arrest warrant, and to continue to enforce the demolition order while we're appealing the request to modify — is what we're hoping we hear back from the court of appeals very, very soon," Heller said.
In a statement to FOX 13, the city of Tampa said, "The city of Tampa approved the improvements, but neighboring residents challenged that decision in court. The court ultimately ruled that the area in question was not buildable — a decision that was later upheld on appeal. This is a legal matter between the litigants and the courts."
The Source: Information for this story was gathered from interviews with the Martin family and their legal team, as well as previous FOX 13 News reporting.