Every day, dozens of children flock to the two story treehouse outside the Clinton home of Scot and Mary Welch. They say its better than any playground. Five-years ago, Scot started working on the treehouse. "You can see there's a lot of love. It's not a plan. It was actually built customized for these set of trees. It's a cluster of six trees and its just an enormous amount of time."

The Welches says the house has been a work in progress.

Until now.

Mary Welch says, "It's been five years and now they're telling us it's an accessory building and it has to come down. It was a shock to us, because we don't see it as an accessory building. I think of that as something you put your lawnmower in, not your children."

Clinton Zoning Administrator Gary Ward says rules are rules. The treehouse, regardless of how nice it may look or how much area children enjoy it, does not comply with city ordinance. "My position as the city zoning administrator says that it has to come down, because its an accessory building in the front yard which is not permitted in a residential area."

Mary says that's not what she was told more than five years ago before they started building the treehouse. "I explained where we were building it and exactly what we had in mind. It wasn't just a treehouse, it was a house in the trees and they said I didn't need a permit for it."

The Welches have decided to fight that decision. They say hundreds of people, including complete strangers have signed a petition to save the treehouse.

Scot says, "All our neighbors and friends and community are telling us to fight this to not just tear it down, because it would leave a hole in the heart of so many children who come here to play."