Council looks to temporarily halt boarding house approval
Niagara Falls is looking at enacting an interim-control bylaw temporarily halting further applications to allow commercial hotels/ motels to be used as boarding houses.
The measure will give the city time to come up with a strategy and policy on how to deal with the issue in the future.
“Last year we had a motel on Ferry Street apply for a boarding-room designation and they received that designation,” said Coun. Victor Pietrangelo.
“Now the committee of adjustment has received another application for a boarding-room designation to a larger motel up on Lundy’s Lane. It’s got some people a bit concerned.”
Coun. Kim Craitor said he attended a committee meeting when an application for a variance to a bylaw to allow a boarding-room designation for the Continental Inn on Ferry Street was approved.
An application to do the same at the Carriage House on Lundy’s Lane earlier this month was deferred.
A motion brought forward by Pietrangelo, and approved by council Tuesday evening, asked staff to prepare an interim-control bylaw which, if passed at a future meeting, will freeze the specific development/land use for up to a year (with the possibility of renewing for a second year), while the city does a review/study of the specified land use.
The variance application for the Carriage House was deferred by the committee at its March 21 meeting until the April 18 meeting, said director of planning, building and development Alex Herlovitch.
The next council meeting is scheduled for April 25.
“I cannot predict what will happen with this application,” said Herlovitch.
“I will be working with our city solicitor on drafting an interim-control bylaw. We will also be preparing terms of reference to undertake the study.”
Craitor said the issue is more than just about allowing a boarding house use at commercial hotels/motels.
“Many of these people who are staying in those facilities … that’s sort of the last resort. They’ve actually sort of gone through our system to try to find some place to stay. Our waiting list is four, five, six years to get into an affordable facility. We just don’t have enough. This is kind of the tip of the iceberg of where they’re going to go for now. We have to put a moratorium and come up with some kind of solution.”
Pietrangelo said he would like the city to come up with a policy dealing with the number of boarding-room facilities the municipality should have.
“Much like we did for other uses that we have in the city, we devised a policy on how many of them we want to allow, whether they be in specific areas, or not too many of them in one area.”
He said with an interim-control bylaw, the city will have to undertake a study of the issue.
“Some of these facilities are being used for a number of reasons. Obviously, the cost of housing has gone up enormously. The use obviously has become more popular and … if we go through with an interim-control bylaw, we can also contact Niagara Regional Housing and bring them in because I truly believe that the two are tied together.”
Coun. Carolynn Ioannoni said there’s a “fine line” the city faces when dealing with the issue.
“I know a school that has a number of students who have entire families living in one room in some of those hotels up on Lundy’s Lane,” she said.
“When you tighten the rules, we’ve got to realize that some of those rules will put entire families out on the street. It’s a scary situation.”
City solicitor Ken Beaman said it’s not the city’s intent to “go around and start knocking on doors and closing” existing boarding houses.
“We will study them and bring back a policy for council going forward,” he said.
Clerk Dean Iorfida said these operations are already happening.
“It’s positive that … the Carriage House and the Continental have come for applications through the committee of adjustment,” he said.
“Perhaps they should be coming to council (for rezoning) so there’s a greater notification of the public. But at least they are going through the process to legalize, as opposed to the fact that we know that these operations are going on in tourist commercial motels in essence. This way there’s at least a process going forward so that the residents who are in the area can come out and make presentations.”
Coun. Wayne Thomson said this is an “extremely important” topic.
“That situation is happening all the way up Lundy’s Lane,” he said.
“Lundy’s Lane is in transition. Some of the properties have been there since the ’50s and with homelessness difficulties, I would say in the winter time most of those properties are being rented out at least on a weekly, monthly (basis) and through the winter time.”
He agreed it’s an issue the city should study.
“If it’s Lundy’s Lane and there’s no residential properties around, it’s something that we may have to look at. But certainly where there’s any residential properties around, this is going to be a problem. We have to come up with a really firm, educated and knowledgeable bylaw which is going to take all these factors into consideration.”