NOTL task force calls for regulation of student housing
The Town of Niagara-on-theLake will look into whether a bylaw is needed to regulate student rental housing in the Glendale area to address several longstanding concerns from residents living near Niagara College.
The Glendale Task Force, made up of residents, town staff and councillors, and representatives from Niagara Regional Police and Niagara College, asked council Monday to approve several recommendations from their July meeting that included a long-term rental housing bylaw specific to the Glendale area.
Task force representative Karen Glauser said when she last spoke to council in 2011, the group expressed concerns about high-density development plans for phase three of Niagara on the Green. They included noise, declining property standards, parking problems, safety issues for students and residents and absentee landlords.
She said one of the positive outcomes of the formation of the task force has been the implementation of parking permits for Phase 1 residents to stop college students from parking on neighbourhood streets.
However, she added, “Parking is a disaster in many areas of our neighbourhood … and noise and late-night parties are becoming an issue again.”
Glauser said many rental properties only have room for one vehicle, whereas there are often more than four vehicles per house. The task force suggested limiting the number of renters per house would help alleviate the problem.
Glauser said fires in rental homes have been increasing in the area and a licensing bylaw would ensure that they were
regularly inspected.
“Loud, unsafe parties” was another issue raised by Glauser that she said compromises the safety of both students and residents.
One requirement in a licensing bylaw should be to let nearby neighbours know how to reach landlords to report problems or potential ones involving their tenants. Glauser said many of the residents knew about the party Saturday beforehand and could have asked the landlord to put a stop to it.
Two other Glendale residents spoke against a long-term licensing
bylaw. Ruxandra Nicolescu argued that there hasn’t been enough discussion about the proposed licensing and no input has been sought from landlords.
“Maybe the town needs to have a second look at their (existing) bylaws and how they are enforced,” she said, adding that “public education is a far preferable way to go than further regulations.”
Lokesh Khjsmatrao, a Niagara College student, said a new bylaw which would charge a licence fee for landlords would result in higher rental costs for students. He said many students do not have vehicles and are able to walk to the campus, but if rents increased, they would have to move farther away and rely on transit.
Community and development services director Craig Larmour presented council with the results of an online survey by the town on the licensing issue. There were only 68 responses and almost 80 per cent of them were from Glendale residents.
Asked whether they wanted a licensing bylaw for residential rental dwellings, 53 said yes and 15 said no and there were comments on both sides. They included a recommendation that the licensing should only apply to the Glendale area, it would be an infringement on human rights and only a few properties are causing grief.
Larmour said it would be challenging for the town to enact a bylaw that only applies to one part of town. He said the City of Oshawa did it, but at great expense.
Council voted to receive the task force minutes and recommendations including the request for a licensing bylaw. They will be forwarded to staff for a report to come to the next council for further discussion.