Golf Club too close to house
Golf Club too close to house Couple angered at 7-metre fence Barrier designed to keep golf balls away from Etobicoke home Homeowners say club's plan will `make us feel encaged' SCOTT ROBERTS STAFF REPORTER Just when Charles and Pauline Sammut thought their six-year war with the Islington Golf Club was over, a new battle with the private course has emerged over its proposed solution to stop a flurry of golf balls from hitting the retired couple's $1 million home. Today, the exclusive club plans to begin construction of a fence nearly 7 metres high in the Sammuts' front yard. The chain-link barrier will be built on the city-owned road allowance off Fairway Rd., just 9 metres from the Sammuts' front door. It will stretch from the course boundary off the third hole to within 2 metres of the couple's driveway. The golf club calls it a reasonable solution. The Sammuts call it a farce. "I'm peeved and mad," said Charles Sammut, 75, upon hearing of the proposed solution. "I do not want a 22-foot fence in front of my house. It's going to make us feel encaged. I don't even think it's going to stop the balls." The course made its proposal to build the fence yesterday, a week after the Sammuts were awarded $14,000 when an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that the golf club was responsible for balls hitting their home. Errant shots by club members have damaged windows, a garage door and a chimney and decapitated a stone statue. Justice Elizabeth Stewart also ordered the private club to come up with a solution to the problem by July 5. "This is the solution we're putting in place right now and we're hoping it's going to work," said David DeSaverio, the golf club's general manager. "We're doing (our) best to abide by what the courts are asking us to do." The club considered putting up netting to stop balls from reaching the Sammuts' property, but decided it would damage trees and restrict the public's access to the course, he said. Planting trees alongside the fairway and redesigning the third-hole tee position are two other options the course is considering, but DeSaverio said the time frame set by the judge gave the course few options. "We can't rework the tee in two weeks," said DeSaverio. "We have to put measures in place and we have to somehow stop the hard-hit balls from hitting Mr. Sammut's home." The golf club was given permission by the City of Toronto to build the fence, DeSaverio said. That decision upset Charles Sammut, who moved into the home with his wife, Pauline, in 1999. "I can't understand how anybody could get a permit to build this kind of a fence in front of a house," he said. The department responsible for issuing building permits in Toronto could not be reached for comment. The lawyer representing the Sammuts called the golf club's proposition "unreasonable" and said he plans to ask Justice Stewart whether or not the fence complies with her court order. "It doesn't sound like a very common-sense solution," said John Ritchie. "We put a man on the moon. We should be able to resolve a problem with some golf balls." Ritchie, who also plans to investigate why the city issued the permit to build the fence, isn't sure how the conflict will end. "Maybe (the fence) is totally legal," he said. "I don't know." Picturesque Islington Golf Club was incorporated in 1923 at a time when homes near the course were scarce. Since 1999, there has been increased residential development on the land just east of the course. K, maybe I'm missing something here. Apparently this golf course has been at this location since the 1920's sometime. So......years go by and whomever decides to build houses along the golf course. First off, what idiot in their right mind is going to buy a house right there. Of course you're going to have golf balls in your backyard...hell you can watch them tee off from your back yard. Shame on the city for allowing the houses to be built where it's not safe, and shame of the people who bought the house for not realizing this. Now they refuse to move cause they bought the house in 1999.......sorry but the golf course has been there a lot longer than that. Now that they've decided to put up a solution they're going to fight that too.....I'm guessing they want the golf course moved :roll:

People do stupid crap like that all the time. In Tallahassee, people who moved to houses around a duck pond that had been in existence since I was little, and probably even before that, started complaining about the ducks. They got the city to close the duck pond. Bastages. :cry: We get the same thing with people moving next to the airport and then petitioning the city to change the route the planes take to the airport. :roll: Use common sense, people! If you're going to move next to an airport, golf club or duck pond, be aware of what you could be in for. If you decide to move there, don't complain about the conditions. If you know you wouldn't be happy living near one of those places, find someplace else to move! Don't move in and expect everything around you to change to accommodate you. :evil: