CHICAGO (CBS) — A bizarre dispute has erupted over an alley in Humboldt Park that might be putting residents’ safety at risk.
Those residents—a whole block’s worth—say they are no longer able to access their own garages.
“Every lawyer, every person that’s seen this was like, how can this even happen?” said Humboldt Park resident Matthew Butcher. “People very obviously had access and use of this alley for, again, decades at this point.”
Three months after buying his Humboldt Park home, Butcher said a concrete barrier was moved into place overnight—blocking the alley to his parking spot and his neighbors’ garages.
“This guy decided to take these steps to prevent everybody from having access to this alley that they’ve had for well over 30 years,” Butcher said.
Unbeknownst to the neighbors, decades-old city records show the alley is actually “private,” and was never designated as a public alley. The man city records document as the owner of the alley declined several requests for an interview, but could be seen repeatedly driving a forklift through CBS News Chicago’s shot during the interview with Butcher.