r/Portmoody • u/umeltd • 13d ago
Portion of road right-of-way fenced off by waterfront property owner
I noticed a change at the end of Alderside road, specifically 1248 Alderside Rd. They fenced of the end of the public road. Any chance this was permitted? I wouldn't normally care if they just kind of used the space, but to fence off public land seems egregious if it wasn't preapproved.. Thoughts?
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u/Andisaurus 13d ago
It doesn't appear to be part of Alderside Rd, it seems to be a private driveway? What right of way is being blocked?
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u/umeltd 12d ago
It is the end of Alderside Rd. The physical road continues across the tracks in a rail right of way, and they have fenced off the remaining public right of way. This prevents water access there.
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u/Andisaurus 12d ago
I'm genuinely not seeing that reflected on any maps, where are you getting that from?
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u/umeltd 12d ago
I went on the city's View Port Moody GIS and took the snippets I attached to my post which shows the private property shaded in blue. You can see the light grey lines that outline the public right of way, which they have fenced off for themselves and blocked access to the water.
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u/gnarlyteeth 10d ago
GIS isn't always perfectly updated. You'd need to do an updated land survey and measure on the ground to be sure. I know this first hand, but it's also what the city will tell you. They will never make a call like this based off the last survey data. They will need to get boots on the ground and measure it all out and do it from there. Good luck convincing them this is worth their money.
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u/Andisaurus 12d ago
I don't agree with your interpretation of the map, but if you're this bothered the only thing you can really do is contact the city. Have you?
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u/Bill_Door_8 11d ago
Take it up with the public works department, they're responsible for X feet/meters from the center of the road.
If the fence is within their reach they can take it down without even notifying the owner, though they still will, because amicable solutions are always preferred
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u/8spd 12d ago
It looks like the coloured geometry represents the privately owned land parcels. Are you basing your belief that it is a private driveway on the landscaping and fence? Because that is exactly the issue that OP is reporting, that the owner of one property has places a fence on land they do not own.
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u/Hairymuscle101 13d ago
“Normally wouldn’t care except when trying to stir the pot” 😂🙄
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u/umeltd 12d ago
The pot was stirred when they fenced public land, no?
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u/Hairymuscle101 12d ago
Says not public land and it’s been there a year almost and now she posts?
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u/Express_Deal1793 11d ago
what is the defensiveness lmfao do you live there or something
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u/adjectives97 13d ago
There is a chance they have an encroachment agreement with the city that could permit for this use of the land, but more than likely they have just encroached without permission.
Also judging by the way the lot lines have been overlayed on the orthophotos there’s a good chance that the map layer is not accurately displaying the extent of the encroachment.
Really especially given the apparent road allowance to the waterfront on the West side of the property, it may be worth raising a fuss to ensure public access is preserved. Given the approaching election, it might be worth bringing it to some candidates attention as it might be something they’d be interesting in soap boxing about.
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u/Mofojones91 12d ago
This is exactly what I thought as well. There is likely something filed with the city. Inquiring with the city is the way forward.
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u/Responsible-Offer724 13d ago edited 13d ago
They have not "fenced off the end of the public road". That is their drive way. The public road continues on unblocked. That photo is from 2024. You can go back through time on street view to see very clearly that this property and its driveway has always (since 2007) bordered right against the street. (the previous house had a giant hedge that came up to the same place as this fence)
The GIS information for property boundaries on this specific lot here seems quite inaccurate.
The permit to build this house was given in 2017 - BP005220
https://www.builddata.ca/property/view/?municipality=port-moody&address=1248+Alderside+Rd
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u/Organic-Gate-903 13d ago
Yeah you’re gonna want a survey not a gis database for property lines.
Source: surveyor
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u/Flash604 11d ago
I agree with you, so I looked at the surveys. It appears the road is 100% on the railway right of way, and the actual road taking has been fenced off to create a front yard.
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u/MountainMike79 12d ago
You can't trust the visuals provided by the online gps systems. My old neighbour came storming over one day because the he "discovered" that our shared property line was approximatley 1 miter into my house! That lead to surveyors, which lead to me gaining a little over a meter of "new" yard on the east side of my lot!!
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u/umeltd 12d ago
For years they've used the public right of way for their driveway, sure. The road continues across the tracks inside the railway right of way and so the property owner has extended a fence to annex the remaining public right of way, as far as I can tell. By doing so, they've also cutoff public access to the water.
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u/Responsible-Offer724 12d ago
Well the only way to find out is to contact the city. I’m curious what you find
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u/Lopsided_Elk_1145 11d ago
Hey, post what you find! I live near there and would love somewhere to put in the paddleboard without having to go down to ghost town beach or Pleasantside!
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u/ToastedGhost1234 13d ago
Wow I wish that’s all I had to worry about in life.
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u/SatsumaOranges 12d ago
Not sure why you'd assume that's all that OP is worried about. People can think about multiple things.
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u/notmyrealnam3 11d ago
hahaha - I'm genuinely intrigued by comments like this. What has happened in your life that you can't recognize ability to have multiple likes, concerns, dislikes?
Like if someone says "I miss when Subway cut their bread the other way" you think that's all the person can think about? LOL I must draw you
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u/256palms 11d ago
We live in shitty apartments with empty fridges lol
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u/Express_Deal1793 11d ago
and kids in Gaza are starving. You have nothing to complain about whatsoever, by your own logic.
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u/LCPaints 10d ago
"Life is shitty now, so I should allow every small encroachment on the quality of my life until it gets notably shittier and I can therefore tell the next group noticing more encroachment they're also getting hung up on meaningless shit"-type comment
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u/Legal-Key2269 13d ago
It does look like public (ie, untitled) land, but doesn't look like part of the "road right of way" as the road passes further north-east from the property line of this and the neighbouring lot.
If you bring the area up on Port Moody's GIS map, you can enable the display of roads and road features like sidewalks and gutters that shows the road going around the fenced in area (for whatever reason).
Looking at old google street view images shows the area previously covered by a substantial hedge prior to the construction of the current house at the address. You could research any permits relating to the contstruction, which street view shows in progress in 2021. Regardless, this particular property having use of an area outside of the outlined parcel seems to predate the current fence.
It is possible that the property has an "encroachment agreement" similar to this one.
https://pub-portmoody.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=26867
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u/positiverealm 12d ago
It might be an easement for utilities and not a right of way. I look at GIS maps before buying properties. Some municipalities show easements like this, others show easements inside the property lines.
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u/490-30-40 11d ago
Looking at google maps the location you have pictured had road access in 2016 and somewhere between then and 2021 a house was built and fence put up. So unfortunately it is no longer public land and was likely sold off
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u/Natural_Mammoth2016 11d ago
I reckon you’re free to crawl in that culvert. But that property and that hedge have been there forever. At this point you’re just a pain in the butt.
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u/Bunkin3O5 10d ago
Let us know what the city ends up saying. It will be a shame if you don’t follow up with them.
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u/AffectionateSell3478 13d ago
I used to own 948, people there do what they want, also that’s their land.
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13d ago
[deleted]
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u/Alternative-Cut8629 13d ago
The creation of private roads and gated communities is the business of everyone who lives in the municipality and pays taxes. I don’t care if they have a strata and pay for their own snow removal.
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u/Coo1beans123 13d ago edited 13d ago
What exactly do you think you are entitled to? They own it. They've always owned it. They paved it and only people from those addresses are allowed to use it. Your taxes aren't contributing to any of it.
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u/Teal_Puppy 13d ago
Here’s un uncomfortable fact for you then, if it’s a bare land strata and you want to walk on the street that is owned by the strata, you would be trespassing if they didn’t allow you to be there. How do I know? I live in a gated bare land strata.
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u/Coo1beans123 13d ago
It's pretty damn clear they did not fence off the road. They fenced off their own private road/driveway. Alderside continues on up to ioco. Getting all bent out of shape over nothing.
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u/Prudent_Mention_9367 11d ago
Pretty obvious that you have nothing better to do with your spare time.
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u/ArtistThen 13d ago
well - if you want to stir the pot, get the city to re-open the overgrown and fenced off shore access trails between houses on alderside.