BRIAN'S BLOG

For sale: One laneway, leading nowhere
January 24, 2014
A piece of property is available in the Beach for the bargain basement price of $90,000. The catch? It’s 1500 square feet of laneway owned by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) that three houses are using to access their parking.
The school board doesn’t want the laneway because the repairs will cost somewhere north of $30,000 and the homeowners don’t want it because they’re guaranteed the right of way no matter who owns it, so why should they pay for repairs?
My big question is – how and when did the school board take ownership of this laneway? It’s currently a dead end. On the other side is the Beaches Recreation Centre, although Glen Ames Sr School and Williams Road Jr School are close by.
As reported by the Star, one of the options the school board is looking at is making the laneway a proper entrance to the school. However, as a homeowner, I wouldn’t want any volume of traffic driving beside my house on a daily basis.
I know there are many other examples of weird laneways in Toronto. Do you have your own story?
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