By submitting a revised application, one of Toronto’s most prominent families has temporarily escaped a final deadline from the city to remove an 18-foot fence on Burton Avenue that goes against bylaw rules and has drawn the protest of neighbours.
According to Jane Pepino, the lawyer representing the Bronfman family, the revised application calls for only portions of the fence to be removed, namely along the property lines that are shared with neighbours.
Community council originally ordered the removal of the fence last May, at a meeting attended by neighbours who found the fence an eyesore and unnecessary.
However, Pepino said the new application is supported by most neighbours.
Joe Shlesinger, who lives next door to the Bronfman family, said he has had no notice about the revised plans and believes that the fence should come down: “As far as I’m concerned, there was an order by the court that they need to adhere to.”
Elizabeth Glibbery, the city manager of municipal licensing and standards, said that the order will be placed on hold until the new year as the city looks into the Bronfmans’ new application. “We’ll be considering that application for the January community council,” she said.
Currently, the highest portion of the fence borders Shlesinger’s property at more than double the city bylaw height limits of 6.5 feet. The Bronfmans increased the height of the fence in December 2008, a month after the family’s house was robbed of more than $1 million worth of jewellery.
Glibbery said that, in usual situations, residents are charged when they fail to comply with a city order. But because a revised application was made, the Bronfman family will not be charged.
