It’s time to get tough with absentee landlords, says Barrie’s east-end councillor.
Clare Riepma has asked to amend the business licensing bylaw to allow a three-year pilot project requiring absentee landlords to obtain a business licence before renting out a single family home, a semi-detached home or a townhouse unless the owner lives on the premise, in the area bounded by Duckworth Street, Steel Street, Penetanguishene Road and the city limits on the north side of Georgian Drive in Ward 1.
“Residents in the neighbourhood have been asking that something be done for years. Almost daily I get emails and phone calls from residents and tenants alike for help with this problem,” he said.
Riepma said a petition on the city’s website last year was signed by 535 people in only a few days and a new neighbourhood group started last month because of this issue.
“Based on the experience in other communities, I think this will help us create a safer, more attractive neighbourhood for all,” he said.
Riepma’s amendment to the business licensing bylaw is an item for discussion at Monday night’s general committee meeting.
This pilot project is necessary because there have been complaints that absentee landlords often don’t manage their tenants or their properties well, the Ward 1 councillors said.
“We have reports of overcrowded houses with up to 18 individuals living in a house designed for a single family,” Riepma said. “With this comes garbage that piles up and litter that blows down the streets. (There are) many more cars than spots to park them, so they end up parked on the lawn or overhanging the sidewalks and curbs.
“The houses are not maintained and look run down,” he added. “In the last year, we have had two fires; luckily no one was hurt. It is not fair to the people that live in the area and maintain their homes and live there with their families.”
Riepma, a planner by profession, notes there are regulations, but they are ineffective.
“We have a boarding/lodging/rooming-house (BLR) bylaw that can’t be enforced. There are lots of BLRs in this area that are completely unregulated and probably unsafe,” he said. “We have zoning regulations that are ineffective and we have a property standards bylaw that doesn’t solve the problem. We have tried a higher level of enforcement with no visible result.”
Riepma says other municipalities — Thorold, Waterloo, Hamilton — have absentee landlord licensing bylaws and there have been improvements seen over time.
“This will not be an instant fix," he said of his amendment, “but it will give us the opportunity to have more dialogue with landlords. Currently, we have none.”
Riepma said the area bounded by Duckworth Street, Steel Street, Penetanguishene Road and the city limits on the north side of Georgian Drive was chosen for the pilot program because it has the highest concentration of absentee landlords in the city and has the most issues.
But this program doesn’t target Georgian College students.
“This is not aimed at students at all,” he said. “In fact, the president of Georgian College (MaryLynn West-Moynes) has expressed her concern about the overcrowding and lack of safety that some students experience at the hands of unscrupulous landlords.
“I should note also that many students live in the neighbourhood and are great neighbours and there are lots of absentee landlords that manage their affairs well,” Riepma added. “This is only about those that don’t.”
He said there are about 2,700 homes in the pilot-project area, with about 700 of them owned by absentee landlords.
If approved Monday night at general committee, the motion would go to city council for final approval at its May 10 meeting.
The pilot project would run from Sept. 1, 2021 to Aug. 31, 2024.
