Some Poughkeepsie residents are losing patience with a developer and city government over public waterfront property that has been blocked off to the community for the last five years.

City officials said Wednesday that just to be able to take down the fences requires significant time and money.

While a legal battle plays out over what the developer should be allowed to build on the 14-acre DeLaval property along the river, located just south of the Mid-Hudson Bridge, neighbors have questioned why public access to the land has been blocked.

The area has been fenced off since 2016.

Active community member Al Bosco said the city needs to make use of prime property in the ways other river cities do.

“They have retail. They have parks for their citizens,” he said during an interview by the DeLaval property last week. “This is the last bit of public land in the City of Poughkeepsie on the waterfront.”

The city owns the property. Developer Joe Bonura Jr’s staff maintains the land and Bonura has permission to eventually build on the land.

Some City Council members have insisted Bonura stick to original plans from 2001 to build a business district with retail, restaurants and office space. Bonura has recently requested permission to add apartments to the project. The city, Bonura and the Poughkeepsie Industrial Development Agency have been locked in a legal battle since November.

While they argue about the future, the DeLaval property is presently off-limits.

“This is the last piece of waterfront development that Mr. Bonura’s has been dragging his feet on for the last 22 years,” Bosco said.

During a meeting of the City Council’s new citizen task force to discuss the future of the property, City Administrator Marc Nelson said he agrees the site should be opened to the public. He said he is working out liability issues and getting estimates on a new safety railing.

Bonura also dropped into the Wednesday evening Zoom teleconference to tell the task force he agrees the fence should be taken down. He added, though, that those safety and liability issues are significant. He said his staff has seen some close calls from his nearby restaurant.

“Unfortunately, one of the reasons that fence was put up was that there were people who have fallen in the river,” Bonura said. “We’ve rescued people out of that river, just because we were at the restaurant and we saw it happen.”

Bonura also said lighting and security may also be necessary to curb “nefarious activity” toward the south end of the site. While several task force members said they hoped the stretch of waterfront would be opened by mid-year, city officials did not offer a time frame for completion.