California man fined, banned from building his daughter a playhouse on land he owns

The city of Chino Hills, California, is preventing a local resident from building a playhouse for his daughter on vacant land he purchased across the street from his home, KCBS-TV reported Tuesday.

The resident, Robert Adomeit, has been fined hundreds of dollars for a treehouse he began building for his 3-year-old daughter, simply because there's no actual residence on that property.

What's the story?

Adomeit said his Chino Hills yard is relatively small, leaving very little room for his daughter, Zoe, to play.

There was some vacant land across the street from his home, so Adomeit purchased it and began construction on a treehouse to provide a safe and spacious area for her to play.

"The residential yard that I live on is quite small," Adomeit told KCBS. "There's not a whole lot of playground for my daughter to play. So we purchased the property, the vacant land across the street for her to play on."

He said he didn't know about the city code when he bought the land. The code requires a home to be built on a property before anything else can be constructed there.

Any chance of a compromise?

The city planning commission is currently reviewing whether there can be an amendment to the code to allow Admoeit to complete and keep the playhouse on the land, but the public hearing on the issue won't take place until June.

"Six months ongoing, I don't know why the city is fighting it so hard," Adomeit said. "I just want what's safe and best for my daughter. I just want my daughter to have a safe place to play."