The hard line on absentee landlords in Barrie’s east end now comes with an enforcement plan.
City councillors approved the nuts-and-bolts process of a pilot project Monday night — their first in-person meeting at city hall in several months due to the pandemic — requiring absentee landlords to get a business licence before renting out their houses — unless they live there.
“It will be a very important tool to help neighbourhoods that have been negatively impacted by landlords that let their properties deteriorate and don’t manage their tenants well,” said Coun. Clare Riepma, who represents this part of Barrie.
“There is certainly interest throughout the city to expand the program, especially in Ward 1,” he added.
Earlier this year, city council approved a motion 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 Ward 1 area bounded by Duckworth Street, Steel Street, Penetanguishene Road and the city limits on the north side of Georgian Drive.
To implement and enforce the pilot project, city staff say the annual cost is $756,000. This would cover two additional temporary full-time municipal law enforcement officers, two additional fire prevention officers (based on a rate of one officer for every 400 homes), two additional zoning officers and funding for a vehicle, work stations and uniforms — all to be considered as part of the 2022 business plan and budget, which council will consider by year’s end.
The total licensing fee for applicants is $966.76 annually.
Based on the estimated number of rentals in the designated pilot area, and taking the average of those estimates, staff believe approximately $628,394 would be generated from licensing fees in the first year — from approximately 650 rentals at $966.76 per rental.
Fines for non-compliance would range from $221 to $1,019, depending on first or second warnings for interior or exterior violations.
“The analysis in the report suggests that the program could be revenue neutral, or close to it,” Riepma said. “As a result, the program provides significant benefits at minimal cost to the taxpayer.”
There have long been complaints that some absentee landlords don’t manage their tenants or their properties well, resulting in overcrowded houses, piles of garbage and litter, and illegal parking.
Riepma, who introduced the licensing plan, has said the city’s boarding/lodging/rooming house bylaw can’t be enforced, the zoning regulations are ineffective and the property standards bylaw doesn’t work — even with a higher level of enforcement.
The Ward 1 councillor has said there are about 2,700 homes in the pilot project area, with about 700 of them owned by absentee landlords.
Riepma said he doesn’t have an actual count of the problem houses, but it is probably 10 to 15 per cent, and that most landlords will have little problem getting a licence. The ones which are operating illegally or are unsafe will have to conform to zoning, fire and safety codes before they can rent their places, he added.
The pilot project would start Jan. 1, 2022 and end Dec. 31, 2024. There would also be provisions for inspection upon the initial licence application and yearly afterward at the discretion of city staff.
The additional staffing levels and costs associated with the implementation of this project, along with a licensing and inspection fee schedule, would aim to make the pilot project revenue neutral, and staff would create a graduated fines schedule associated with violations of this bylaw to act as a deterrent to multiple offenders.
Staff would evaluate the success of the pilot project based on the number of bylaw infractions reported in the area, by Sept. 30, 2024.
