‘Brewfing’ fad a slippery slope, literally

• Faced with too many inebriated students climbing to the rooftops to party during homecoming and other celebrations, London, Ont., is set to pass a bylaw making the practice of sitting on a roof and drinking beer illegal.

“It is a matter of protecting people from themselves,” London city councillor Phil Squires said.

“Generally, I don’t like to tell people what to do but in this case it was getting out of hand. It was a party on a roof.”

The target isn’t the occasional individual heading to the rooftops with a drink.

Instead, city hall’s focus is the kind of activity police and bylaw officers have seen over the past few years, especially during Western University’s homecoming in 2016.

In the areas around the university, officers witnessed 15 rooftop parties.

Some students call it brewfing, short for sitting on a roof and drinking beer.

Squire, who represents the university neighbourhoods, said he’s seen a few of his own over the past couple of years.

“I was amazed at the number of people up on very steep roofs, and inebriated. It seems to be an attraction. I don’t know why,” he said.

In a report headed to city council’s community and protective services committee Wednesday, city hall staff detailed the obvious dangers of roof parties — which students apparently need a bylaw to avoid.

“With slanted roofs and flat roofs with no guard rail systems, there is always the potential of a slip and fall causing bodily harm,” the report reads.

The report also points to another potential disaster.

Generally, I don’t like to tell people what to do but in this case it was getting out of hand

“Social gatherings on roofs (slanted or flat) create a potentially dangerous condition of roof collapse as the roofs are designed for a certain snow load and not for public assembly.”

The report notes that brewfing caused a roof collapse in California.

City staff is recommending that social gatherings on rooftops be added to London’s public nuisance bylaw, passed in May 2012 after the riotous St. Patrick’s Day party on Fleming Drive near Fanshawe College. That bylaw allows police and bylaw officers to tackle a wide range of group misconduct that creates a “nuisance party.”

If an officer determines the gathering qualifies as a nuisance party, they can issue a warning, order the activity to stop or slap down a $750 fine.

ROOFS ARE DESIGNED FOR A CERTAIN SNOW LOAD AND NOT FOR PUBLIC ASSEMBLY.