Sandwich Town residents off the hook for $1M in legal fees, following bridge company lawsuit loss

Sandwich Town residents will not have to pay legal fees to the Canadian Transit Company, which owns the Ambassador Bridge.

A judge has ruled the company will not get the $1 million it requested after winning a court case against the homeowners last month.

The residents were seeking in excess of $15 million in total damages against the Canadian Transit Company (CTC) in 2013.

The Old Sandwich Town homeowners filed a claim in 2013 alleging the boarded-up homes in their neighbourhood, owned by the CTC, diminished the use and enjoyment of their properties.

Justice Thomas Carey ruled against the plaintiffs stating they failed to show that the dilapidated houses "created a compensable private nuisance." He added he was not convinced that the "harm done to the plaintiffs was substantial."

Carey wrote that, despite his ruling, he "sympathizes" with the residents of the area, saying they were "innocent victims" in the battle being waged between the City of Windsor and the Ambassador Bridge company.

After the CTC won the lawsuit, they asked for $1 million in damages.

Dan Stamper, president of the CTC told CBC News, "we asked the judge to do what he thought was right, and I guess he has."