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“Renters were walking in the area from house party to house party for approximately 48 hours often with open containers, shouting profanities. Shopping carts were used for races when they weren’t being used to ferry cases of alcohol to a party that was just broken up into one that was in full swing and loud music. Let me tell you, there nothing like trying to sleep when you can feel the bass between your heart beats at two a.m., Even residents were being harassed on their own property or when they're walking about,” recalled Karren Mathews of this year's Homecoming Weekend on Thibeault Terrace as she presented to council last night, “This is by all accounts the worst year yet.”
This isn’t the first time residents of the area have been vocal about their issues with college and university students from rental housing units in what she described as a once peaceful area over 10 years ago.
Mathews said it reached a tipping point for long-term homeowners in the area in past years, which had them asking the city for rental by law changes—which she said has not worked in providing a solution.
“The city made some changes, but it’s now October 2017, just a few weeks after Nipissing University's homecoming weekend and we’re back,” she said in frustration. “The bylaw changes didn’t work.”
During her presentation to Council, Mathews was backed by over a dozen residents of the area as she described how the overflow of rowdy students has forced out members of that community and put even more of the long-term homeowners—whose property value has steadily diminished—on the brink of leaving, despite the years of investment they’ve made in building a family in Thibeault Terrace.
“My parents have been here over 30 years and even they are considering leaving now,” she said.
In her presentation, Mathews suggested the city look at bylaws from cities such as Waterloo, which has made recent changes to its rental bylaws to ensure more regulation, safety, and inspections were met.
“This is not a student issue,” she made clear. “The only issue is the bylaw. Waterloo, for example, has wonderful bylaws that hold landlords more accountable, have bigger hoops and higher hoops than we’ve got. It will improve things drastically. What I’m seeing is landlords that don’t live in North Bay, so they have no investment in the city. They are packing the area as tightly as they can.”
Mayor Al McDonald said he was pleased to see members of the community, the police, and the student union present that night, but said while the city does currently have a rental by law, it would be inappropriate to talk about it because it is currently being challenged in the courts.
“What I can say is we all want to find solutions and work together,” he said. “We all need to be respectful of each other and find a solution. There are all kinds of things we can do by bringing the groups together. Bringing our bylaw officer and commissioners. I do know they are having good neighbour meetings on the campus and there is a willingness from everyone to find a solution.”
While Mathews said she was pleased with the level of cooperation from the police and the city, noting it’s been better than years past, she was disappointed by the lack of commitment from the college and university.
“I was a little disappointed that it was relegated to student representatives for the discussion because they’re only here for four years, some of them may stick around but they’re here for four years while residents are here for 10 to 20 years or longer,” she said. “I would like to see more from Nipissing and Canadore and become a little more invested in the area.”
