Monster wall complaints fall on deaf ears at city hall

For almost eight years, the Green family has repeatedly asked the city how their neighbours towering 6-metre garage could be legal and have been told nothing can be done about it.

But with a new mayor in office, Dianne Green, a 77-year-old widow, decided to give it another try.

In the last few years, I have survived losing my husband of 55 years, cancer, the [Sunrise] propane explosion, dealing (with) our home insurance company and being bullied, but now I am alone and it is just too much, she wrote in spidery longhand. No one can deny this wall is horrible to look at and I have to see it every day. It is very, very offensive I am in great need of your help. I would be very thankful and grateful if the by law is enforced and the wall is covered up properly.

The letter may have struck a chord over at city hall because the Greens received a quick response, though it was not the one they were hoping for. Like every previous exchange, the city told them the garage doesnt break any bylaws.

Michael Green, a Polish Holocaust survivor, moved to Canada after the war and married Dianne in 1959. They moved into their house that same year and raised two kids in the Downsview area of North York without any disputes for decades.

All that came to an end in 2008, when Jose Santos bought the house that backed onto theirs, knocked it down and built a bigger one in its place. He also raised the level of his back yard by a metre and built a large garage on top.

The reason the garage appears so large is because its sitting on a back yard thats been raised three feet, and it wasnt like that before he bought it, said their son, Jeff Green.

While the city ordered Santos to reduce the height of his garage by a few feet, inspectors determined that no other bylaws had been broken.

Believe it or not, what you see is the lower height, Jeff Green said.

Reached at his home Wednesday evening, Santos declined to comment. He had previously told the Star: Whatever I do with my garage is my business, not yours. Its nobodys business.

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Monster wall complaints fall on deaf ears at city hall