To many, the sights and sounds of kids playing before and after school goes unnoticed.
But for Georgina Ibbotson and her son Kris, who was diagnosed with autism at a young age, it's a triggering experience that causes high stress and anxiety.
After trying everything to minimize the impact it had on her son, the only solution Ibbotson could come up with was building a fence around her front yard high enough that he couldn't see out onto the street.
"Safety," Ibbotson said of the reasoning for the fence.
"Kris is a good guy, he's productive and he's happy but his anxiety was building up. It was constant all the time."
If the name sounds familiar, it's because Kris is the "Vac Man." He has a keen skill of restoring and fixing vacuums from all different decades.
When Ibbotson called the city to propose the idea for the fence, it sent someone out to survey the lawn and mark it, she said.
Thinking she had the all clear, the fence was built. Little did she know she would then receive a visit from a bylaw officer.
She was unaware a variance to a bylaw was needed and said she was initially told she wouldn't be on the hook for the cost of the survey given the situation, only to be told later payment was required.
"A guy comes in and says 'this is wrong,'" she said.
"He said there's a variance, we're going to have to take it down. He had me crying. It was $400 for the variance and $2,000 for a survey."
Ibbotson said the matter then went before the court, which was confirmed by the City of Cambridge who said bylaw was unable to speak on the issue.
It eventually made it's way to city council last week, where Ibbotson delegated in an attempt to get the variance approved.
After Ibbotson spoke, Ward 3 councillor Corey Kimpson put forth a motion, seconded by Ward 1 councillor Helen Shwery, for the variance to be approved for a fence measuring 1.9 metres in height along the street line, driveway of the property and eastern property line.
It included conditions that the owner shall remove the fence or bring it into compliance with the city's bylaw at their own cost should there be a change in ownership of the property or if the variance is no longer needed for the purpose it was granted.
The motion was met with resounding support from Mayor Jan Liggett and city council, passing with a unanimous 9-0 vote.
"Thank you Georgina for supporting your son in the way that you have and making sure that his needs are met, as well as the neighbourhoods, it's very commendable," Liggett said.
"We appreciate it and we're here to serve you and assist you through this."
It appears the mayor was not aware the fence had already been built, however, stating at the end of the vote "you have your fence, I hope you get a saw and hammer for Christmas."
While the long process has come to a positive resolution for Ibbotson, which she said includes being relieved of any financial implications, she's still frustrated by the entire process.
"They're supportive now, where were they three years ago when I needed them?" she said of the lack of clarity from the city.
"They prolonged it."
As for the court case, it's no longer going through according to Ibbotson. The city didn't respond to whether or not that was accurate by the time of publication.
The whole situation has caused a great deal of stress, she said, both from the potential financial ramifications and from the impacts on her son.
"I've cried so many times," she said.
"All that time I was worrying. Prolonged stress is bad. I went to them and told them the situation, none of this should've happened."
