Mar 15, 2023
By Jane Brown
A turf war continues between an elderly Toronto resident and the City of Toronto.
Frank Leone appeared in court Tuesday after he was ordered to remove a patch of fake grass from his front yard even though bylaw officers initially said he was fine to keep it there.
Leone is in a wheelchair and after a stroke, cannot take care of real grass.
But city staff say the fake grass must go.
“I cannot believe that this is the approach they’re taking with an elderly man who just wants to live in his house in peace,” says former Toronto City Councillor and regular Zoomer Radio Panelist Karen Stintz.
As a friend to Frank Leone, Stintz says “he’s being accused of not conforming to the bylaw but he believes and did conform to it. And so he’s the one who’s being dragged into court and he has a disability, because the city can’t agree with itself.”
While there is no specific bylaw pertaining to fake grass, artificial turf is not listed as an approved material for soft landscaping.
The next step is the city taking the matter to trial, which means Leone will have to travel to court at least two more times
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