City forces father to take down child’s fort
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A Utah father is fighting to keep a giant cardboard fort up in his yard.
Jeremy Trentelman of Ogden City built the big box fort with his 2-year-old and 3-year-old last week in the family's front yard.
"We all had a blast putting it together," he says, "and we've had tons of fun with it since."
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"I just thought it was an awesome way to use boxes and my kids' imagination," he added.
But someone, whether it was a neighbor or city official, had an issue with the fort in the lawn and reported it.
The father came home to a letter from Code Enforcement Officer Gordon Sant saying that he had 15 days to take the cardboard building down or face a minimum fine of $125 and possible legal action.
ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDIN ME!!!?!We build a completely awesome box castle in our front yard for our our kids to play in...
Posted by Jeremy Trentelman Aifd on Wednesday, April 1, 2015
“I’m going to send him a letter, but I haven’t been able to get myself calmed down enough about it to do it,” Trentelman says of Sant, “apparently my box fort is a nuisance or Mr. Sant is a killjoy.”
He admits he's seen code enforcement officials in his neighborhood before but didn't think his family's project would cause any issues.
"It's obvious it's not junk," he explains, "there is a slide over the side and child graffiti all over the boxes. It looks like a fort."
The dad says he won’t take it down until last minute though, stating, “It probably wouldn’t have lasted more than 15 days but you better believe it will be up until day 14.”
He intends to repair and even add to the fort every day with the time he has left.
Despite the frustration, Trentelman says that he isn't "genuinely mad," and believes the city would support him if they knew the situation.
He's hoping the internet will help with this, saying, "I'm just hoping this can get seen by the right people."
