Condo developers are masters of the local universe, with rights to occupy precious public space that can be bought for peanuts.

On Oct. 17 we reported on a Roehampton Ave. condo site where pylons were improperly used to close the curb lane, to create exclusive parking for construction workers.

We asked readers to tell us if they saw the same thing elsewhere, and got several tips, including a note about barricades next to a large condo project on Lillian St., just south of Eglinton Ave.

We went there Tuesday and found concrete barriers running south from Eglinton for nearly 100 metres in the curb lane of Lillian, along the east side of the construction site.

The only thing there to justify the barriers was a garbage dumpster and an SUV parked behind it. A guy jumped into the vehicle and started to drive away, so we stopped him and asked why part of the street is closed.

The developer has a permit from the city, he said, offering to show it to us. We looked closely and found that it authorized hoarding along Eglinton, but said nothing about barricading Lillian.

When we said as much and asked if we could shoot a photo of the permit, he got into his SUV and took off, saying we should go to a trailer on the job site, where other people could provide more information.

It seemed as if we had caught them in a ruse similar to the Roehampton situation, so we called Andre Filippetti, who’s in charge of right-of-way management in that area, and told him.

Filippetti called back Wednesday and surprised us by saying the developer indeed has a permit to barricade part of Lillian, and also Dunfield Ave., on the west side of the project.

The builders can do whatever they want within the barricades, including parking vehicles or dumpsters, he said, adding that the curb lane on the west side of Lillian was used for public parking until the project began.

To obtain a permit, the developer had to pay the Toronto Parking Authority for lost revenue from the parking spaces, he said.

It seems a small price to pay to encroach on precious public space and make it even harder for drivers to find parking in the busy Yonge-Eglinton area.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

But when you’re building condos in Toronto in 2013, inconveniencing the public is no concern to the developers or, it seems, the city.