Loading ...
Student Housing Update
As many of you know, I have been working on ways to deal with the proliferation of Student Housing in Ward 8 and in the rest of Hamilton.
Councillor McHattie and I met with the Minister of Municipal Affairs, John Gerrestsen recently. We discussed the need for more tools like access and legislation to control Student Housing. We were informed that there are provisions in the amended municipal act for licensing these housing units.
We have since directed staff to draft a by-law and bring a report back to Council. It is my hope that we can have this in place by the end of the year.
Sounds like a good start, but can we force landlords not to even setup shop? We should just outlaw new student houses like we did with drive throughs!
My Personal Feelings about Student Housing, after doing my best for two years:
1) The worst problem had to do with the Parking of Cars/Pickup Trucks, etc. The by-law says two cars in the drive. REALITY says any number of vehicles parked in the driveways; on the front lawns. It is like living very close to a Walmart Parking Lot.
2) In my case, on West 5th Street, the landlord lived out of town (King City, Ontario). There was no one to make sure the garbage did not build up in the driveway; no one to make sure that rats did not infiltrate that garbage in the driveway; no one to clip the edges of the lawns; no one to cut down the thistles which were 6 feet high.
3) Because of the “out of town” landlord situation, there was no one to monitor the noise of the cars and trucks pulling in and out of the driveway at all times of the day and night.
4) Because of the “out of town” landlord situation, there was no one to make sure the garbage did not sit at the edge of the road; get run over by the cars and trucks pulling in and out of the drive, and ultimately sitting there (in two instances) for a period of two weeks.
5) Who monitors the situation wherein the “out of town” landlord, collects the rent every month, but probably does not report that income to Revenue Canada? None of this income is put back into improvements or even upkeep at the address of student housing.
I personally live beside a house where the eavestrough constantly overflows with each storm, and pours on to my driveway; where a fence is breaking down, sagging, and needs to be replaced.
In spite of all of the above, my assessment rose $20,000, and there is nothing that I can do about that.