Municipalities brace for students’ return
While welcoming thousands of post-secondary students back this weekend, Niagara communities are also bracing for potential problems associated with their return.
In addition to the thousands of young adults moving into facilities on Niagara College campuses in Welland and Niagara-on-the-Lake, and at Brock University in St. Catharines, thousands more will be moving into privately rented rooms in nearby neighbourhoods.
Some residents of neighbourhoods near campuses feel the return of students is cause for concern, said Niagara-on-the-Lake Coun. Paolo Miele.
He said the town is preparing for the influx of students expected at the Niagara College campus on Glendale Avenue, while also planning to greet them when they arrive, Saturday. “It starts out good, but these are young individuals and it may be their first time moving out of the house. They’re a little more excited, a little more into the party scene. It’s an ongoing thing, like in any college or university community, there’s always work to be done,” said Miele, a member of the town’s Glendale Task Force established to work towards resolving safety, security and parking problems, particularly in neighbourhoods near the college campus such as Niagara on the Green.
Town representatives will again be present at the campus this weekend, participating in a meet and greet with the college and students.
“We hand out fliers regarding some expectations of what we’d like to see in the community, in Niagaraon-the-Lake,” he said. “We’re looking for a positive outcome, but of course there’s always going to be a few.”
In Welland, the city’s Town and Gown committee has been taking similar actions to try to ensure there are no issues associated with the return of students there.
Ward 4 Coun. Pat Chiocchio, who leads the Welland’s committee with Ward 1 Coun. Mark Carl, said the overwhelming majority of students are only interested in their education, and share many of the same concerns as the local residents do about disturbances.
“They don’t want to see garbage, and they don’t want to see that much partying going on,” Chiocchio said. “I talk to a lot of students. They’re more than happy to help out and spread the word regarding safety in the area, garbage and noise.”
In addition to efforts by the city to reach out to students, such as distributing its Good Neighbour Guide to incoming students, Chiocchio said, Niagara Regional Police are again increasing patrols near post-secondary campuses as classes resume.
Meanwhile, municipalities are also continuing to look for long-term solutions to problems resulting from off-campus student housing.
Working with fellow task force members including Coun. Terry Flynn, Miele said he feels progress is being made towards finding solutions.
For instance, he said he hopes a new bylaw being developed by Niagara-on-the-Lake to address safety concerns at student rental properties will be ready for approval by the end of this year.
“There are issues and safety concerns that we have. There are homes in Niagara on the Green, because it’s so close to the college, there might be six or eight students in a household and that house might not be the proper setting structurally,” he said.
“What we’re doing is to really go in their to protect the landlord, tenant and the town, is to find a solution and that is going to have to come through by the way of a bylaw.”
Chiocchio said Welland, too, has been looking at similar licensing or bylaws. However, he said it has been a challenge to craft a bylaw that will stand up to legal challenges.
“There are a number of things in the works that we want to move forward with, but it’s looking at legally if we can do it. There are certain matters we have to look into before we can implement such things,” he said.
Thorold, too, is developing similar bylaws, while dealing with off-campus housing primarily for Brock students.
Chiocchio said Welland will be paying close attention to any bylaws developed in Thorold and Niagara-on-the-Lake, before finalizing its own.
“We want to wait to see how things are going to happen there,” Chiocchio said. ABenner@postmedia.com Twitter: @abenner1
They don’t want to see garbage, and they don’t want to see that much partying going on. I talk to a lot of students. They’re more than happy to help out and spread the word regarding safety in the area, garbage and noise.” Ward 4 Coun. Pat Chiocchio
Brock University is preparing to welcome thousands of students this weekend, when returning Badgers arrive along with newcomers to the school.
The university is expecting to welcome 2,400 students, mostly in their first year at the university, who will be living in student residences at the St. Catharines campus for the months to come. The majority of those students are expected to move in on Sunday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
At the same time, Niagara Regional Police will be stepping up patrols to ensure the return of students living off-campus runs smoothly as well.
A small army of volunteers will be at the university Sunday to coordinate the arrival of the students as the find their way to their rooms in the 100 per cent sold-out student residence buildings.
In a media release, Brock director of residences Jamie Fleming called Move-In Day a “well-oiled machine,” perfected over years of being “tweaked and fine-tuned.”
“Every year we review and debrief and evaluate things that we should change for the next year,” he said.
NRP media relations specialist Stephanie Sabourin told The Standard that officers will have an increased presence to coincide with the start of the fall term at local post-secondary institutions.
“Niagara Regional Police officers will be increasing patrols of areas around student housing and in the downtown core of St. Catharines in preparation of students returning to post-secondary institutions,” Sabourin said in an email.
“As always, officers will be vigilant in ensuring students are not participating in underage drinking and any noise complaints are addressed. We have been working in co-operation with both Brock University and Niagara College to ensure a successful school year for both students and the community.”