CHICAGO — One week ago, Ukrainian Village resident Josie Defries said a dispute between landlords turned ugly.

Defries said a woman who works for a Chicago Real Estate Company bought the apartment building next door at 1743 West Huron Street in February and had an argument with the neighboring landlord about the placement of garbage dumpsters out back.

Now, tenants in adjacent 1741 West Huron Street, walk out their rear door to find a chain link fence that runs through the gangway from the front sidewalk to a rear gate. The fence now blocks these residents from getting to their cars or even to take out their garbage.

The post near the front sidewalk also blocks the gate from closing. Residents said it’s not only a safety hazard, but a major inconvenience.

If you want to build a fence on your property a permit is needed, but in the city of Chicago, as long as the fence is see through like a chain link and is below 5-feet tall, a permit is not required. The fence at the Ukrainian Village property measures just over 4-feet tall.

Concerned tenants reached out to 1st Ward Alderman Daniel Laspata’s office to complain. A spokesperson told WGN they did come out to look at the fence, and are calling this a private property dispute.

But, they did contact the Department of Buildings to request an inspector to come out to check the concern about blocked access and potential fire hazard issues.

The city said someone did take a look and has scheduled a follow up inspection after consulting with their legal department.

WGN made repeated attempts by phone to reach the building owner, and went to her real estate office for comment. They said she works remotely and she did not respond to any of our attempts to reach her.