CARRBORO - Mayor Mark Chilton said a barbed-wire fence outside a Carrboro apartment complex blocks access to Chapel Hill-owned property and may be illegal.

Chilton said the new fence at Estes Park Apartments on Estes Drive Extension has closed off the driveway to the old Leo Merritt property. That driveway is the most convenient place for pedestrians from neighboring Village West to cross the railroad tracks on their way to downtown Carrboro.

Chilton is trying to save the pedestrian path and has asked to meet with Estes Park management.

Efforts to reach Shannon Brummett, regional property manager for General Services Corp. which runs the apartment complex, have been unsuccessful.

Bill Webster, Chapel Hill's assistant parks and recreation director, said the town purchased the Merritt property a couple of years ago.

"We need to do a little bit more research," Webster said. "If we do indeed have legal access, then we've got a problem."

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