Woman, teens vandalize fence in front of deputies, sparking rounds of finger-pointing

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orlando community is more divided than ever after a fence preventing two streets from connecting was dismantled Thursday night.

Since the 1980s, Surrey Drive and East Kaley Avenue have been separated from Watauga Avenue by a chain-link barrier.

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At approximately 7 p.m., though, videos show a group of teenagers using sledgehammers, wrenches and bolt cutters to tear both fences apart. Neighbors said it was at the direction of a nearby property owner.

“I said, ‘This is an Orange County fence,’” Stephanie Salvilla, who lives next to the fence at East Kaley, said. “All the children were like, ‘The cop down there told us we could do this.’”

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In fact, the fence was torn down in front of Orlando Code Enforcement and Orange County deputies – allegedly because neither side knew who owned the fence at the time.

County officials later concluded the fence was built on Orlando’s right of way, but by an Orange County commissioner who lived there at the time and wanted his neighborhood to be quieter.

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County Public Works Deputy Director Brett Blackadar wrote in an internal email that, “We don’t understand why the sheriff deputy gave permission” for the group to continue dismantling the fence.

However, county officials said someone had altered the fence from its intended design. Originally built with a man-pass in the middle to allow pedestrians to walk through, images from Google Street View show the man-pass has been repeatedly closed off by fencing and re-opened throughout the years.

The woman who destroyed the fence, Delila Smalley, said she and her family members tried to open up the man-pass twice earlier this year after a child was hurt climbing over it, only to have the city of Orlando close it back up.

She said this third time was the final straw after receiving threatening notes from her neighbors.

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“We decided that was enough,” Smalley said. “The fences were all designed with walkways, but residents closed them. If the city and county never approved the fence, then it should not be there… We do not live in a gated community, however much some of them have tried to create one.”

Smalley started a petition to open the community back up permanently. She said she was in support of putting a replacement fence up to keep cars out – but not pedestrians and bikers.

At the same time, property owners near the fence have circulated their own petition to have it reinstalled. They were divided between a group that wanted pedestrian access and one that did not.

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“I just want to feel safe in my house,” Alexa Garcia said.

For now, orange barriers line the street where the fence should be, warning cars not to pass.

County staff members said no charges have been filed. They decided late Monday to make changes to the end of the road to prevent cars from driving through permanently, and have directed public works to come up with several options.

In the meantime, a staff member said, heavier barricades would be erected to prevent drivers from cutting through the neighborhood.

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