Residents of student-packed Sandy Hill now have the option to report noise complaints directly to landlords through a new website created by the Eastern Ontario Landlord Organization (EOLO).
John Dickie, chair of EOLO, said many of the noise complaints have been made by long-time residents against student tenants. He said the proximity to the University of Ottawa (U of O) and to the ByWard Market makes the area an attractive place for students to live.
“Some of the long-standing residents would be delighted if every landlord in Sandy Hill refused to rent to a student, because they figure older tenants would make less noise, but you’re not allowed to do that under the Human Rights code,” Dickie said.
Dickie said the website was created due to changes in the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act prohibiting bylaw officers from going to landlords with noise complaints, and the fact there are more complaints in Sandy Hill than elsewhere in the city.
Local city councillor Mathieu Fleury, who has been involved in the attempts to solve noise issues in his ward, said the first step Sandy Hill residents should take when neighbours are too noisy is to call 3-1-1 and contact bylaw officers.
Then, if they wish to take their complaint to a second tier, they can log their grievance on NoiseInSandyHill.ca.
“As soon as there’s a noise complaint [bylaw officers] fine, and if they’re not fining they have to report back on why they didn’t. What the website does is it allows their complaint to reach a second level, not just with the city but with EOLO who is able to directly inform the landlord of the infraction,” Fleury said.
Fleury said some landlords weren’t aware of the number of noise infractions occurring on their property.
“Every year we meet with the most problematic landlords in the area and we give them a briefing, and the constant element that came up was that they weren’t informed about the level of issues that happened on their property,” he said.
Fleury said the website isn’t targeting “a group specifically” but rather is “targeted to an issue.”
“It’s a tool that landlords can use to support good behaviours on their property but also it’s an investment for the community,” Fleury said.
He added that while the website will not solve all of the existing problems, it is a step in the right direction.
Dickie said educating residents on appropriate noise levels is essential. EOLO currently distributes flyers in the area to inform the community on the expectations on noise levels.
“It’s the tenants who control the parties . . . The landlord isn’t able to control any of that. That’s one of the things we had to communicate to the residents,” Dickie said. “They had an impression that we can wave a magic wand and make our tenants be quiet, but we can’t do that.”
