A property owner and a number of people who use a popular path along the bank of the North Saskatchewan River are facing off – as the trail crosses private property, and the owner has installed a fence, blocking it off.
For runners, and others walking on the path that runs along the riverbank in the Riverdale neighbourhood in the area of , it’s a major inconvenience.
“A trail that I’ve been running on for years has now been completely closed off,” runner Andrew Rosychuk said.
“You come out for a run to escape from your normal day and then you come and see this.”
What Rosychuk and others encountered this weekend is a tall chain-link fence that runs from the edge of the river, across the path, completely blocking anyone using it – sparking frustration.
“It really brings anger, it kind of disrupts the flow that is a run,” Rosychuk said.
For others, it’s spoiling the river valley.
“It’s an eyesore for this city too, I think the river valley is a beautiful place and to come to this, it sort of seems like a compound in the river valley,” runner Amanda Adcock said.
However, property owner Tania Nordli said the fence is a last-ditch effort to keep her family and herself safe.
Nordli said the fence was finished Friday, in response to a number of confrontations she had with cyclists, runners, walkers and those walking their dogs on that path over the years.
“I was happy to share my property and I was for several years,” Nordli said. “With boundaries that people respect its private property.”
The mother of three, who is also eight months pregnant, said one of the main issues was that a number of pet owners would walk their dogs in the area off-leash, when her property is not in an off-leash area – one of her children has also suffered a dog bite, but the most recent incident put Nordli over the edge.
“A couple of weeks ago I was assaulted by one [dog owner],” Nordli said, she told CTV News she was pushed to the ground.
At that point, she said, she’d had enough – the police were called, and she pressed charges.
“I really can’t afford the lack of safety, not with a baby coming,” She said.
“I’ve been appalled to hear what some of the people in their neighbourhood have done and said, to not only her but her children,” Judy-Anne Wilson, another Riverdale resident said, admitting the move to install the fence is drastic, but it was in response to extreme incidents.
“It’s pretty sad when people aren’t able to change and let go of things and be okay with someone having the right to do something that they have a right to do,” Wilson said.
Fence sparking anger, frustration for path users
Less than 48 hours after the fence was completed, Nordli said she’s dealt with people trying to break onto her property to get through – as she’s installed gates over where the path fell.
“As you see, I put gates in, I didn’t have to, and I’m hoping that once it’s fully acknowledged this is private property, that there is no off-leash dog walking in the area…that I might be able to open the gates again,” Nordli said.
She said on Saturday, a cyclist tried to force the gate open, “yelling and swearing” at her, she said.
In fact, some CTV News spoke to weren’t aware that that section of path crossed private property – on a map on the City of Edmonton website, showing legal boundaries, Nordli’s is the only one in the area that stretches to the water’s edge.
Nordli said a past owner of the property didn’t sell the section of land closest to the water to the city.
Meanwhile, some residents are pushing the city to take action – one woman told CTV News she had contacted the city about the fence, and learned the city is looking at buying the land, but the family isn’t selling.
With files from Jeff Harrington
