Toronto says it can't clean this filthy spot because it's private property. The owner's been dead a century

Frustrated shop owners in Toronto's Yonge and Wellesley area say the city is refusing to pick up mounds of garbage that regularly accumulates in an adjacent laneway because it's private property — even though the laneway's last known owner died more than a century ago.

Toronto says it can't clean this filthy spot because it's private property. The owner's been dead a century
Sara Sadrolhefazi, surrounded by debris that's accumulated recently in the laneway behind her coffee shop on St. Joseph Street. She's spent $5,000 in the past year cleaning up garbage there, and says it's time the city stepped in.

Frustrated shop owners in Toronto's Yonge and Wellesley area say the city is refusing to pick up mounds of garbage that regularly accumulates in an adjacent laneway because it's private property — even though the laneway's last known owner died more than a century ago.