End of the road

Municipality changes quiet cul-desac into a thoroughfare

The folks on Brickworks Drive believe the municipality has radically diminished their bayside community, and put their children at increased risk. Further, they say council was duped into opening an entrance from their cul-de-sac community onto a nearby private lane based on emergency and safety considerations. Now that it has been opened residents of Onderdonk Lane are regularly using the wide, municipally maintained street as a throroughfare to County Road 3 (Rednersville Road). Brickworks residents are crying foul.

THE SETTING
Onderdonk Lane is a private driveway serving eight residences that look out upon the Bay of Quinte, midway between Rossmore and Carrying Place. Roughly carved out of the landscape by residents decades ago to serve summer cottages, Onderdonk Lane remains a private roadway. Most of the cottages have been replaced by year-round residences. Onderdonk Lane residents acknowledge their roadway is less safe and accessible than Brickworks Drive and prefer to use it rather than traverse their lane to Rednersville Road.

But the Brickworks residents argue that they bought and paid for a cul-de-sac community that has now become a through street. They complain their neighbours get the benefit of a new access to Rednersville simply because they haven’t maintained their own lane.

THE VIEW FROM BRICKWORKS
Steve Wilson, his wife, Nicole, and their three small children live on a lot they purchased on Brickworks Drive in 2011. Last year he wrote objecting to the opening of the roadway to Onderdonk, fearing an increase in the number of vehicles using Brickworks Drive would affect the safety of our children” and decrease his family’s privacy.

But the municipality agreed to make the connection despite the concerns raised by Wilson and his neighbours. They found that Onderdonk Lane does not meet the standards required to provide emergency access to these properties—that granting an alternate access to this lane would be an appropriate remedy.

As a compromise, Wilson and his neighbours asked the municipality to install a gate on the entrance to prevent everyday use by Onderdonk Lane residents, service providers and delivery folks.

The municipality said it would install signs to direct emergency vehicles, but garbage collection, mail delivery and other purposes would continue to use Onderdonk Lane. Municipal officials understood, however, that when they opened access to Brickworks they could not enforce how it would be used. Nor would they install a gate fearing it will hinder emergency access.

“While only an alternate winter and emergency access was requested, staff acknowledge that no means of controlling access was contemplated,” wrote Robert McAuley the County’s chief engineer.

Wilson’s fears have been realized. Many of the folks on Onderdonk Lane now use Brickworks Drive regularly. So much so that some residents are considering discontinuing maintenance of part of their lane—in favour of the municipally maintained Brickworks Drive.

AN OPEN ROAD
John Casson lives on Onderdonk Lane. He says that when the municipality decided it was impractical to install a gate—they read that to mean “it was an open road.”

Janice Lewandoski says her private, exclusive community has been compromised. As the developer of the property and an owner of four lots, Lewandoski told council last week it isn’t fair that she had to pay $550,000 for Brickworks Drive to meet municipal specifications, while Onderdonk Lane residents now recieve the benefit of the roadway without having invested anything into it.

“We’ve done everything you’ve asked,” said Lewandoski. “We’ve hired lawyers and engineers to build this right.”

She argues that the private cul-de-sac she designed, built and marketed has been arbitrarily transformed into a throughway for folks with nothing invested. It is a viewpoint echoed by Brickworks Drive resident Janet Madsion, who had planned a dream retirement on this quiet drive.

While she doesn’t wish to pick a fight with her neighbours on Onderdonk Lane—she wants her private cul-de-sac restored.

“The people who bought on Onderdonk Lane knew it was a private lane,” said Madison.“The reason Onderdonk Lane is bad is because they didn’t invest in maintenance.”

It was advertised as a private, quiet cul-de-sac,” said Madison. “Now it has completely changed. We will secure legal means to protect our investment.”

THE VIEW FROM ONDERDONK
Craig Bolton and his young family live on Onderdonk Lane. He says the concerns of his neighbours on Brickworks Drive are overdone. There are only six year-round residences on the road, and many of these families only use their residence part time. Further he adds that no other homes more will be developed on the lane.

“Onderdonk Lane would never be allowed to be built the way it is,” said Bolton. “We are taxpayers. We have equal right to these municipal services.”

Councillor Kevin Gale wasn’t persuaded.

What would you have done, if Brickworks hadn’t been developed,” asked the councillor from Sophiasburgh.

“I don’t know,” responded Bolton. “I bought it after Brickworks Lane was developed.”

Mayor Peter Mertens was irritated that Onderdonk Lane residents had requested access to Brickworks as an alternative emergency entrance, but were in fact now using it for everyday use.

“Don’t you have a responsibility to honour the purpose by which this access was established?” asked Mertens.

In the end, he and the majority of council weren’t prepared to backtrack on the safety of Onderdonk Lane residents—even if they didn’t like the way residents now use this link.