A hearing officer ordered Christopher George to remove a gate he built on Morrison Canyon Road in Fremont, but he has refused to do so for months. The city of Fremont will commence enforcement if the gate is still up by April 18th.
A gate along the terminus of Morrison Canyon Road in Fremont obstructs a public right of way in front of the ranch of Christopher George , CEO of mortgage lending company CMG Financial, on Fri.
, May 15, 2026. A code enforcement hearing officer recently ordered George to remove the gate from the roadway by Mon. , April 18 — something he’s repeatedly refused to do for months. Even though he has repeatedly refused to bring the gate down, Christopher George was recently ordered by a code enforcement hearing officer to tear down hisIt’s another loss in a public access battle against the city George has been losing since November 2025.
, and his wife, Teresa, that the 1,000 feet of roadway behind his gate is a public right of way, not his private driveway. George’s lawyers on March 16 appealed to hearing officer Ann Danforth to keep his gate, arguing that when the county surrendered its claim to the roadway in October 2025, the right of way should have been transferred to him, not the city.
“Immediately remove the private gate that you constructed on Morrison Canyon Road that obstructs the use of the public street,” Danforth wrote in her April 18 order. While George has until Monday to remove the gate, he also has until July to file a legal challenge to Danforth’s decision in Alameda County Superior Court, which could potentially prolong the gate’s removal.
, May 15, 2026. A code enforcement hearing officer recently ordered George to remove the gate from the roadway by Mon. , April 18 -- something he's repeatedly refused to do for months.
, May 15, 2026. A code enforcement hearing officer recently ordered George to remove the gate from the roadway by Mon. , April 18 -- something he's repeatedly refused to do for months.
A grazing cow is seen behind a fence at a ranch in Fremont owned by businessman Christopher George on Fri. , May 15, 2026. A gate along the terminus of Morrison Canyon Road in Fremont obstructs a public right of way in front George's ranch on May 15, 2026. A code enforcement hearing officer recently ordered George to remove the gate from the roadway by Mon.
, April 18 -- something he's repeatedly refused to do for months. , May 15, 2026. A code enforcement hearing officer recently ordered George to remove the gate from the roadway by Mon.
, April 18 -- something he's repeatedly refused to do for months. , May 15, 2026. A code enforcement hearing officer recently ordered George to remove the gate from the roadway by Mon.
, April 18 -- something he's repeatedly refused to do for months. Grazing cows are seen behind a fence at a ranch in Fremont owned by businessman Christopher George on Fri. , May 15, 2026. A gate along the terminus of Morrison Canyon Road in Fremont obstructs a public right of way in front George's ranch on May 15, 2026.
A code enforcement hearing officer recently ordered George to remove the gate from the roadway by Mon. , April 18 -- something he's repeatedly refused to do for months. , May 15, 2026.
A code enforcement hearing officer recently ordered George to remove the gate from the roadway by Mon. , April 18 -- something he's repeatedly refused to do for months. George has repeatedly ignored multiple requests for comment about the issue from this news organization. He did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Fremont spokeswoman Geneva Bosques told this news organization Friday that the city will “commence enforcement” if George’s gate is still up by Monday’s deadline. While city code stipulates George could be fined over $100 each day the gate remains, Bosques said the city will decide any punitive details after Monday. Previously, George claimed people have used the remote strip of road as a location for sex, drug deals and illegal dumping.
He also previously told the Alameda County Board of Supervisors that his family’s safety was at risk and urged them to approve ceding the land over to him so he could build his gate as a public buffer for his private land. George’s lawyer, Andrew Sabey, argued at the March 16 hearing that the city owns just a “tiny little remnant island fragment of pavement” along the roadway.
He insisted the city was overreaching its authority and should respect the county’s decision to turn over its responsibility of the roadway to George. Sabey claimed the hearing was partly “political theater” and “political shows” by the city, which called several witnesses to testify against George. The city’s witnesses included city workers and local residents who claimed they used the road regularly for recreation.
The city has argued that bicyclists and other local residents for years have used the roadway, which runs adjacent to the nearby Vargas Plateau Regional Park.
“Mr. George built that gate even when he knew when he purchased his ranch that Morrison Canyon was a public road,” Nicholas Muscolino, the city’s attorney on the case, said at the March 16 hearing. “In the city’s view, this case is really about the rule of law. ” Danforth wrote in her findings after the hearing that George’s claim to the right of way behind the gate is “only partly true.
” While she agreed that part of the gate extends into what is now George’s property, she also wrote that a “substantial portion of the right of way is part of the city. ” She also said the city “retains the right to keep its portion open for bicycle or pedestrian use, now or in the future.
” Jason Bezis, a lawyer representing residents who petitioned to bring down the gate, called Danforth’s decision “well reasoned” and “likely to withstand judicial challenge. ” “I don’t think they’re going to take it down,” Bezis told this news organization. “They’d be defying the order if they kept it up. ”
Fremont Morrison Canyon Road Christopher George CMG Financial Code Enforcement Public Right Of Way Private Driveway City Of Fremont Alameda County Superior Court Month To Remove The Gate Public Access Battle Against The City
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