Residents of a neighborhood in Dundas are furious after a local homeowner built a fence over a well-used public alley and apparently turned it into a private driveway.

People just woke up one morning and there it was.– David Jones, resident of Dundas

And even though the land doesn’t belong to him and wasn’t for sale, the fence is still there. The city says it has no immediate plans to remove it.

The public alley has linked Alma Street to Victoria Street since at least 1857, said David Jones, one of the residents fighting the fence.

Located in the Cross-Melville Heritage District, it’s a popular thoroughfare for pedestrians, cyclists, and families walking from daycare at Knox Presbyterian Church to St. Augustine School.

And although the resident built the fence over public land, effectively blocking the way for everyone else, the city let him stay, he said. Due to current city rules, he may be able to buy the property for $ 2.

The city says it’s a humble alley, which means that only emergency maintenance work is done, no fence removal. (Samantha Craggs / CBC)

Now angry residents are climbing over it and more than 200 have asked the city to remove it.

“This is public land,” said Jones. And “he just went ahead and did it.

People don’t give up. Today it is a public alley.– David Jones

“People just woke up one morning and there it was.”

According to Jones, Len Medeiros, a local developer, built the fence after buying a house on Sydenham Street. The alley runs next to the house and appears to serve as a driveway.

Medeiros and his wife own LM Enterprises and have renovated the community’s historic post office and developed other properties in Dundas, according to a 2014 Metroland article.

“People just woke up one morning and there it was,” says Jones from the fence. (Samantha Craggs / CBC)

Medeiros, who was contacted on Thursday, said he did not have time to talk about the problem and therefore had no comment for the time being.

The city says the alley is humble, which means it is only being serviced for emergency reasons such as fallen branches, spokeswoman Jasmine Graham said. Removing a fence would not qualify.

“We didn’t remove the fence because the city isn’t doing maintenance or other operational activities in nondescript alleys,” she said.

Graham confirmed that the city had expressed an interest in purchasing the property earlier this summer but did not provide details. There are various fees associated with applying to purchase urban land, Graham said. However, the nominal charge for an alleyway adjacent to residential properties is $ 2.

Local children have painted with chalk on the newly paved part of the alley. (Samantha Craggs / CBC)

The employees of the corridor management check this. If it is a viable offer, it will be referred to the City Council’s Public Works Committee.

Comments on the offer to buy were due by Aug. 4th, when Jones and others collected more than 200 signatures from people wanting the alley to remain public. Although it is not clear whether the city would act to remove the fence even if the land were not sold.

Jones said his group will form a delegation to combat the problem if it gets onto the public works committee.

The alley off Alma Street shows the original gravel. (Samantha Craggs / CBC)

In the meantime, the fence remains. A resident nearby had written “illegal fence” on it in chalk on Thursday. Some local children had drawn flowers on the part of Sydenham Street – according to Jones it appears to have been paved by the time the fence went up – and written “Public Alley”.

“People are walking down the alley and are frustrated that the fence is there,” he said.

“Some people climb the fence. Those of us who are a little older don’t climb the fence.”

But “people are not giving up. It’s a public alley today. Together, the neighborhood will continue to assert their rights to the area.”

The post Dundas residents fuming over fence that is blocking a public alley first appeared on DECKS AND FENCES DAILY.