A code enforcement hearing officer is expected to decide on the case over an illegal gate soon
An electric gate recently built blocks Morrison Canyon Road in unincorporated Alameda County outside of Fremont, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. Property owner Christopher George constructed the fence blocking the public roadway to his property, but the city recently sent him a letter ordering its removal.
Attorneys representing Christopher George, a Fremont mortgage lender and CEO of CMG Financial, are claiming that the city’s right toAndrew Sabey, who represents George, said the actual strip of roadway the city owns is just a “tiny little remnant island fragment of pavement.” The city said George should be subject to two separate violations: one for the stationary fence, and another for the gate that swings across the roadway. Nicholas Muscolino, the city’s attorney for the case, argued that “there is no city half, there is no county half. The city owns an easement in the entire thing.” Sabey, joined by attorney Amber Miller, faced off with Muscolino on March 16 in a hearing with Ann Danforth, a code enforcement hearing officer. Danforth is expected to soon decide whether George will be expected to remove his gate, or whether to absolve him of any wrongdoing and allow him to keep it.New shoreline park to bring nature, ‘justice’ to East Oakland residentsLongtime volunteer Singer to be honored as Lafayette’s citizen of year The decision will cap off months of back-and-forth bickering between George and the city, after the city first notified him in November 2025 that he had illegally constructed a gate across the terminus of Morrison Canyon Road. The city has argued that the gate blocked public access to about 1,000 feet of public roadway that it previously shared with the county until county officials recently surrendered their control of the road to George. Sabey called a single witness to testify at the hearing: Joe Thompson, a principal land surveyor for Kier & Wright Civil Engineers & Land Surveyors Inc., headquartered in Livermore. He said he was hired 10 years ago to survey George’s land, including where the disputed roadway is located. Thompson testified the actual shared right of way is “a very small sliver of pavement within the city,” and overlaps a much smaller portion of land with the county. He pointed to his own diagram of the property lines and rights of way that he produced after personally surveying the land. After Thompson’s testimony, Muscolino called witnesses, which included city workers, who testified against George’s claim to owning the disputed roadway. Sabey before the city’s witnesses were introduced and between witnesses claimed the city was attempting to conduct “political theater” and “political shows” by calling a number of witnesses to speak throughout the entire hours-long hearing. Witnesses included the city’s own surveyor, Tom Dougherty, Noe Veloso, an assistant city engineer with the Fremont Public Works department, James Willis, a city planner, and two residents, Monica Melville and Paul Perkins.Muscolino maintained he was trying to establish “a waterfall of arguments as to why this is a public road” by calling five witnesses to the hearing. “Mr. George built that gate even when he knew when he purchased his ranch that Morrison Canyon was a public road,” Muscolino said. “In the city’s view, this case is really about the rule of law.” Danforth said both parties have until April 3 to file rebuttals to each other’s arguments at the hearing. Shortly after, she is expected to rule and possibly close the door on the contentious fight. Homicide victim had been warned to steer clear of Norteño turf, but teenaged killer caught him there, feds sayToday in History: March 22, largest hydropower station in the U.S. goes into operationCalifornia sheriff running for governor seizes more than a half million ballots from 2025 electionFormer finance manager charged in alleged embezzlement at Alameda girls’ leadership organization
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End of the road coming for legal battle over gate in FremontA code enforcement hearing officer is expected to decide on the case over an illegal gate soon
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