INDIALANTIC, Fla. – In his first interview, the homeowner who Brevard County ordered to stop building a backyard “man cave” out of shipping containers said he’s been wronged, and he’s not going to take it down.
Indialantic Community Correspondent James Sparvero has followed Joe Traska’s legal battle with the county since 2023.
Tuesday, Traska gave Sparvero a look at the man cave that’s never been seen by reporters before.
Traska said he intended for the structure to be a pool house.“I wanted something off my pool to reuse recyclable materials and shipping containers, and it turned into a mess,” the homeowner said.
The county claimed Traska violated code by stacking the shipping containers.
Traska argued the code applies to sheds, not his structure.
“I took a couple thousand dollars to get a permit, and after I had them craned into place, everybody was upset about it,” he said. “I’m not gonna take it down at my expense. The constitution will prevail.”
Traska climbed a ladder to the second floor to show more of the unfinished man cave.Because of a stop work order, he hasn’t been able to resume building it since 2023.“It’s gonna look really nice when it’s done, if it ever gets done,” Traska said.
He told Sparvero an end to the legal battle doesn’t appear within sight.“Until somebody really looks at the situation and sees that as a property owner I was wronged,” Trask said. “I asked permission. I got permission.”
When asked for comment about the battle in court, Brevard County said it won’t be settled for probably a couple more months.
By not being in compliance, the planning and development department said Traska continues to face a daily fine of $25, but it’s pending the outcome in court.