"I Have Been Prevented From Accessing My Own House"

David Kadosh and the blockade at the entrance to his drivewayPic: David Kadosh and the blockade at the entrance to his driveway

A man wakes up one morning and finds that the entrances to his driveway have been blocked by cement barriers. That man is suffering from physical disabilities, has lost his sight and about two months ago underwent a kidney transplant. Naturally he could not witness with his own eyes the convoy which included a City of Toronto truck containing concrete blocks and two police vehicles, which arrived in his house and with a large crane blocked the two entrances to his driveway.

This is the reality to which David Kadosh woke up to on the morning of January 22. Kadosh moved to Canada from Israel in 1972. In 2001 he moved into his current house in Willowdale, which is located in a quiet neighbourhood near Bathurst and Steeles and includes a fenced driveway covering a large area of the property. “I designed every part of the house myself,” exclaimed Kadosh proudly. “I received all the appropriate permits for the house from the City of Toronto.”

In 2003, Kadosh began to lose his sight as a result of kidney problems and began dialysis treatments. He underwent a kidney transplant last November and is now on medication which is provided to him by his caretakers.

On the morning of January 22, Kadosh awoke to the noises outside his house as City of Toronto employees set about blocking the entrance to his driveway. “At first I thought it was just noise from construction on the road,” explained Kadosh. “But several minutes later my neighbor called me and told me that the workers were actually blocking the entrance to my driveway.”

By the time Kadosh made his way outside, the work had been completed and his driveway, with the cars still parked in it, was blocked by two large blocks of concrete. “I asked the supervisor on site what this is all about, and he told me that the large fence on my property was illegal and therefore my driveway was being blocked. When I asked why I never received a letter about this problem, the gentleman produced a letter which was sent to my old address in Thornhill,” said Kadosh.

Upon asking the supervisor why the letter was sent to his old address which he has not been living in for more than10 years, the supervisor told Kadosh that he had not updated his address with the city. Kadosh found this particularly puzzling since all his documents and bills, including the permits he received from the city, are addressed to his Willowdale home and not to his former address in Thornhill.

“I explained that I am blind and I need the use of the driveway because my caretakers can drive me right up to the stairway that leads to my house, and I asked him to at least allow us to take the cars outside of the driveway,” explained Kadosh. “He agreed and removed the concrete until the cars were removed from the driveway. His workers then put the concrete back in its place and left.”

The city workers who blocked the driveway told Kadosh that it was too wide and needs to be narrowed down. They claimed they would do the job and then send him the bill. “The driveway was always this wide, even before I moved in. I never received any letter or even a phone call from them and the supervisor refused to give me a copy of the letter that was sent to my old address. The whole thing was done so quickly, in approximately half an hour so I couldn’t respond, and it was done in an insulting way with police on the scene. By blocking the driveway, they essentially prevented me from having access to my own house.”

The City of Toronto refused to comment on the issue. John Filion, a Toronto city councilor representing the ward Kadosh lives in, told Shalom Life that the driveway in Kadosh’s house is illegal. “There were more than ten cars parked on that driveway, making the whole thing illegal. He was given repeated notices to correct the illegalities and had ignored them.” Filion could not comment on the way the matter was handled by city employees or why the letter was sent to Kadosh’s old address in Thornhill.

Kadosh said that he never parked more than two cars on his driveway and so the city’s allegations were untrue.