Article content continued

Council voted Monday to study the possibility of allowing property owners to buy the adjacent land they are leasing in an attempt to permanently end the practice of leasing land to residential property owners.

The fence at 10th and Eastlake was built to account for the lack of backyards for the 1912 homes, Wolfe said.

In 1999, a resident complained to the city that the white picket fence obscured the view at the intersection. The city administration decided the fence was built too close to the sidewalk and that allowing it to remain would set a bad precedent.

Support for the Victorian-style fence poured in from across the county, according to StarPhoenix news reports, and more than 1,600 signed a petition in support of the fence.

An arrangement was made to allow the property owners to lease land from the city. The fence, which was designed to resemble the fence originally built at the property, was given a civic heritage award in 2000.

Robert Clipperton appeared on behalf of the Nutana Community Association on Monday to try to convince council to leave the fence alone.

“If I was on council and this was my can of worms, I would just leave a lid on it for now and do something else,” Clipperton said.

A city report suggests the fence is uneven and obstructs sight lines. The proposal from the city suggested homeowners be given $500 to remove existing fences should the land leases end.

Dan Borys, who has also built a fence on land leased from the city, said removing the brick and wooden fence near his Silverspring home would cost $20,000 or $30,000. Borys said he’s surveyed his neighbours, who have no problem with the fence.

“There is no eyesore,” Borys told council Monday. “There is no obstruction. We feel really blindsided.”

The city also leases 27 patches of land to commercial property owners. That practice will continue, but council voted to update the leases to reflect current land values.

ptank@postmedia.com

twitter.com/thinktankSK