The Town of Culver may soon be considering the future of the town’s alleys. During last week’s town council meeting, it was noted that it’s becoming hard to locate the right of way of several alleys.
Council President Ginny Bess Munroe pointed to the alley behind Ohio Street where structures have been added where the alley’s supposed to be. “I didn’t know it was an alley and I was asking someone about it, and 15, 20 years ago people started randomly putting their stuff on it,” she said. “So now technically we can say, ‘Take your storage unit off of there.'” It was also pointed out that many alleys have deteriorated since garbage collection was moved off of them and onto the streets.
Last week’s discussion stemmed from an alley that appears to have migrated out of its right of way and onto property owned by council member Sally Ricciardi. “To put the alley back to where you could travel, it would actually go under Charlie’s garage and you would have to move the telephone pole or the NIPSCO pole out of the alley,” she said.
There was also some confusion about whether it was technically an alley or part of Obispo Street. The council previously considered vacating the alley, but in the end, decided to pass a resolution basically keeping it as it is.
Town officials noted that the issue of making sure no structures are placed where alleys are supposed to be will likely be the responsibility of the town’s next building commissioner.
