St. Patrick’s Day in Sandy Hill went without major disturbances caused by drunken students, as proposed changes to how bylaw complaints are handled continue to worry the neighbourhood’s long-term residents.
“There were definitely a few hot spots, but nothing out of the ordinary,” said Rideau-Vanier councillor Mathieu Fleury. “I think police and bylaw were proactive in responding to calls—they were in the neighbourhood really early in the day so that should have helped maintain a good neighbourhood.”
St. Patrick’s Day is known as a holiday when students throw rowdy parties in Sandy Hill, a neighbourhood adjacent to the University of Ottawa (U of O) where many students, but also a vocal community of long-term residents, live.
Genna Giorgetti, a U of O student living in Sandy Hill, said she agreed things were relatively calm in the neighbourhood on St. Patrick’s Day.
“They had a couple keggers going on—you saw all the drunk people out at like noon, probably, but it seemed to be not too bad,” she said.
She said she heard about one party being shut down by police but it didn’t seem like there was more partying than normal.
Concerns over bylaw enforcement started after Ottawa police announced last month it will no longer respond to noise complaints past 4 a.m. unless there is an immediate public safety concern.
Bylaw officers handle noise complaints until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 4 a.m. on weekend mornings. Police officers return to handling complaints after 6 a.m., leaving a two-hour gap in enforcement.
Residents in Rideau-Vanier, where Sandy Hill is located, called bylaw 9,614 times in 2015, nearly triple the city average of 3,320 calls per ward.
“By the time a resident decides to call 3-1-1 there’s already an issue,” Fleury said. “By the time 3-1-1 comes and bylaw responds, there’s additional time when the issue can escalate, then if bylaw is required to dispatch Ottawa Police that just furthers the issue.”
Fleury said despite the confusion over bylaw enforcement, he was glad to see St. Patrick’s Day go smoothly.
He said the warmer weather this winter might have meant larger parties being thrown and more people partying outdoors. Fleury said he does not have the statistics on complaints on St. Patrick’s Day, so it’s too early to know for sure.
He said he met with police officials, who told him the changes to enforcement will not take effect until May 1. He said he’s hopeful a plan to properly deal with noise complaints can be worked out before then.
Giorgetti said even before the changes to bylaw enforcement were announced, noise in the neighbourhood was an issue.
“It’s not like it’s just students here either. It’s embassies and the elderly too, so they don’t want to be up until like 5 a.m.—that’s not cool,” she said.
The changes to how the police deal with noise complaints are due to Ottawa Police attempting to find efficiencies, although Fleury said he is not convinced the city actually will.
“I haven’t been able to have a clear idea of why or what the efficiency is for the police, so those are questions that remain unresolved,” he said.
Fleury said the current bylaw enforcement system in place works well and the proposed changes would amount to cuts in services. He also said they could create issues in Sandy Hill.
“I take those calls very seriously,” Fleury said. “We don’t want to see vigilantism and people taking these matters into their own hands.”
