12-room duplex deferred

Councillors reluctant to declare Park hill Rd. W. rooming house a duplex

A 12- bedroom house on Park hill Rd. W. didn’t get a rezoning on Monday that would have officially recognized it as two duplexes, each with six bedrooms.

Instead, councillors voted to defer the rezoning: they plan to wait up to a year and have city staff conduct quarterly inspections of the property in the meantime.

The deferral, which was proposed by Coun. Don Vassiliadis, is meant to allow city staff to ensure the building is actually used as a duplex.

Coun. Henry Clarke said he wasn’t happy with the idea of rezoning the property as a duplex because that’s not what it is.

“This is a boarding house,” Clarke said. “There’s an expression: you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”

Coun. Dean Pappas said he wanted to ensure they get the zoning correct.

“If it’s a boarding house, let’s get it licensed as a boarding house,” he said. “It’s incumbent on us to get the right zoning, and the right business permit on all of our properties... Getting more information is fine.”

Yet city staff had recommended that council recognize the building at 880 Parkhill Rd. W. as a duplex (with each of the two units containing six bedrooms).

A city staff report stated that the property owner is operating the building as two separate households, each with six bedrooms – meaning the occupants live together much the way a family does.

Under the city’s new rooming house bylaw, that would mean the property owner would need to take out a business licence for each of the two duplex units.

But there were questions raised at City Hall on Monday about whether this building should actually qualify as a duplex.

Mayor Daryl Bennett had a rental advertisement for the address, which he read from: apparently the property owner is looking for students to rent each room individually.

“It may be defined as a duplex, but it’s being treated as a student residence and lodging house - that’s how I read the advertisement,” he said.

The property owner wasn’t at City Hall for the meeting on Monday.

Also on council’s agenda

Monday night:

Apartment building on Paterson St.:

Councillors approved an application for re zoning to allow a twostorey brick apartment building on a piece of vacant land at 461 Paterson St.

The new building would have eight one-bedroom or bachelor apartments. The plan calls for four parking spots for those eight apartments.

Keith Payne said he and his wife are planning to rent to people who can’t afford market rents. He doesn’t expect his tenants will be able to afford to own cars. He said the parking will be mostly for visitors.

Clinic on Park St. N.:

Councillors voted in favour of a rezoning to allow additional small-scale office uses for a braininjury clinic in a heritage house at 661 Park St. N.

Lawyer Jeff Ayotte told council the applicant, neuropsychologist Joanna Hamilton, doesn’t have immediate plans to add an office. She wants to add potential uses to the building in case she wants to lease space in the building, in the future.