Sandy Hill landlords called to task for excessive trash

Piles of trash at multi-bedroom “bunker houses” in Sandy Hill have drawn the ire of the community association, prompting the councillor to float changes to curbside garbage pickup in the neighbourhood.

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury is asking for feedback on a series of initiatives that, if adopted by the city, would force landlords of converted multi-unit, multibedroom buildings in Sandy Hill to hire private garbage collection services, much like rooming houses do.

Fleury is using the term bunker houses to describe buildings that have several bedrooms in each unit, leading to some ugly garbage storage. It has also become a logistical nightmare for garbage collection since there’s so much trash generated by those buildings, Fleury said.

Another proposal would require all residences in Sandy Hill to keep garbage and recycling containers behind or beside the building, but never in front. If there are at least six bedrooms in one dwelling, or if a multi-unit building has four or more bedrooms in a single unit, the garbage would require indoor storage.

Fleury proposes the city post all property standard violations on the front doors, in addition to mailing them, so both the landlord and tenants know there’s a potential problem.

Sally Southey, a board member of Action Sandy Hill, likes Fleury’s suggestions to tighten up property standards in the community. The garbage piles go beyond esthetics, she said.

“There are also health concerns,” Southey said. “If you have open garbage, that breeds all sorts of potential problems.”

Troubles in Sandy Hill, usually related to property standards or noise, often surface as established homeowners and short-term renters try to live with each other.

“This is a historic neighbourhood. It should be the jewel of Ottawa,” Southey said.

“And yet, there are some landlords who are not treating it with the kind of respect and they are non-compliant with existing bylaws.”

David Lyman, vice-president of the Eastern Ontario Landlord Organization, said the focus should be on the individual problem properties and not painting all landlords with the same brush.

Lyman said EOLO’s members aren’t really in the bunker house business, but the organization is interested in issues that affect the rental market, especially if there are bylaw changes.

“One does not want to make general rules for specific issues,” Lyman said. “If there are specific problems, it’s likely the city rules can deal with those individual problems.”