A controversial treehouse in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis will have to be removed from its perch.

On Thursday, the city's Zoning Board of Adjustment unanimously upheld a zoning official's determination that the treehouse at 1812 Emerson Av. S. is too high and too close to a neighbor's home. The decision capped a two-year dispute over the structure, which homeowner Clement Pryke had built for his 13-year-old son, Daniel.

The boy gave a final, tearful plea to board members before they took their vote. "I would just like to say that I really like my treehouse, I spend a lot of time in it and I would really like it if it didn't have to be taken down."

Clement Pryke argued that the structure amounted to a special case that does not fit under city codes. He said its height should be measured based on its base in the tree, rather than from the ground up — and that it didn't merit special concern from the next-door neighbor who filed the initial complaint.

"He says we can look in his windows," Pryke said, "but there must be other people out there that have houses that are 10 feet apart that can very much look into each other's ­windows."

After the neighbor filed a complaint in August 2012, the city inspected the treehouse and found it did not meet code for playhouses. The city does not have a tree house-specific zoning regulations.

Officials told Pryke he'd have to apply for specific exemptions to the code if he wanted to keep the treehouse — though he'd have to move it to a lower height, and the city could still deny those exemptions.

Pryke decided to skip that application process. Instead, he met with city officials, started a petition drive in his neighborhood and filed a formal appeal to keep the treehouse, at least until his son leaves for college in five years.

Zoning board members, however, said they couldn't make a special exemption, though they were sympathetic to the family's attachment to the treehouse.

"I think it's unfortunate that something done with as positive of intention as this has turned out in this venue," said board member Dick Sandberg. "But I see no choice other than to agree with the zoning administrator. I think it was an expensive treehouse, a very nice treehouse, and it's turned into an expensive lesson in the civic process for this family."

Erin Golden • 612-673-4790