Totally agree, Jack. Not enough, if anything effective at all, has been done by the city and the college to address the disruption. The issue needs more than what is loosely in place now. More proactive work and enforcement from all parties and prevention of the issues arising in the first place. We should not have to be the ones to deal with such assaults to our quiet enjoyment of our own homes.

Glad to see this has reached the required number of votes.
Next step is for it to move forward instead of trying to placate us. I've lived in my home for 25 years. I've seen my neighbourhood degraded over the years. I've had to stand on my front lawn at 2 a.m. surrounded by angry 20 something threatening to beat me up waiting for the police to show up 40 minutes later. I've watched from my window while gangs of GC students 20-40 in numbers cavorted up my street, yelling, smashing bottles, stealing items off peoples decks and lawns, again waiting for the police who eventually show up..after they're long gone.
I've dealt year after year with houses that are supposed to be houses, being over run with as many as 20 students sleeping on mattresses in the front rooms, garages, living rooms. 20 people shouldn't be in 900sqft semi detached. I've seen the after math of people living crowded together. The broken toilets where people just go wherever. The garbage piled to the ceiling in garages. Garbage surrounding property. The increase in squirrels, mice....rats.
I've seen the rolos come in at the end of year, and take away entire house loads of left behind furniture.
I'm tired of the city telling us they're going to work on this. Next year.....
I have ZERO love for Georgian College. All they've done is download the problem onto the tax payers. They've made the profits. We've paid the price. I'm tired of being sheriff frankly. I'm tired of having to call, and call, and call and write and write. It just goes nowhere. It shouldn't be my burden to police the situation. It should be up to the city make sure the laws are followed.
I'm glad this has reached the stage of review. Now council needs to actually act on it. I get they don't have to live here, so it's a NIMBY but they need to stop ignoring this. It's not going away.
To address one poster specifically, who is hiding behind that fake name. It IS our business when it affects our lives. Our sleep. Our ability to enjoy our property. Our PROPERTY VALUES which are lower because of these absentee landlords. My house value is lower because of them and because of Georgian Colleges and cities negligence and that isn't right. That's why it's my business. It affects my life and I don't like it when people mess with my life.

Ward 1 Councillor Clare Riepma brought this to City Council on November 18, 2019. At that time, city council decided it was best to try and add an extra Bylaw officer to help address the problem of absentee landlords. Hitting them in the pocket book to see if the situation improves. The extra officer was never added as per my follow up with Councillor Riepma. This issue should be brought before city council again as a follow up. The 500 + votes on this suggestion page will help out for sure. Residents of Ward 1 understand how important Georgian College is to Barrie and to the students. Students/renters need a safe place to live so they can enjoy all that Ward 1 has to offer. However, many properties are owned by investors/companies that do not share our love of the Ward (they live outside Barrie) and for them it's strictly a business. Businesses need to be licensed. Let's keep the pressure up on this one. Stay safe.

Lol. Not really. #defundthepolice was at the forefront and they ignored that. Unless you’re going to pay for extra law enforcement. They can ignore this as well.

Well @Stephanie Harris, you have a few legit points. But thank you for your contributions which have pushed this agenda into the forefront. 👍

Respect is not whining about someone’s lawn or how many cars they have all the while they’re on their private property.

People voted well above that to defund the police and that was shot down. So it doesn’t mean anything.

Home ownership means you own the home. A gated community comes with that level of responsibility because there you don’t own the home.

Bring house proud means YOUR house, not someone else’s. Theirs is not your house. What you do to your house is your business. What they do with theirs is their business. You don’t pay their taxes, you don’t pay for their bills.

You don’t get to shove what is your personal standards on another person when you don’t own the land in question.

It is my understanding these forums are created so like minded people can come together and suggest what next steps should be taken in a positive respectful manner to rectify a problem.Over 500 votes clearly states that this is a very real issue.
Home owner ship whether you live in the home or rent it out comes with a level of responsibility or it should.To own a home and not be concerned about how parking..snow removal.. lawn maintenance noise. garbage.. and debris is dealt with needs to change.People are house proud..they spend time.. effort and money to keep their properties presentable.There needs to be regulations in place to address the issues mentioned.

These are private properties. End of and as such an owner can do what they feel is best. They’re not owned by the public no matter what bylaw or anyone else says

Good to see the number of votes go up!

Just so everyone is aware, the individual who heaps vitriol on us, multiple times daily, has done so on other Barrie city forums, at times showing a significant degree of cruelty. So, don’t take it personally.

Here’s hoping someone discovers a new hobby, a little less screen time, and more kindness :)

I think we all want the current by laws to be enforced, I don’t think we are “whining”. I also agree that these by laws need to be stricter for properties that are run as businesses. I myself have a wonderful landlord that own the property beside me. He regularly checks on his property, and address any issues his tenants have. He employs a company to maintain the yard and a cleaning service for his tenants (students). He is rare.

Fyi

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

Stephanie Harris are you for real? Your comments come across as aggressive and ignorant. Maybe it’s you who needs some reflection?

A couple counter points
1. You are complaining about people complaining all at the same time stand on a soap box telling others to get off theirs. Ironic.
2. This is a forum for a suggestion to keep people responsible for their properties rather than let their property look run down.
3. How your home looks definitely effects the price of your neighbours, my years in the industry will speak to that, any Real Estate book you open you will find that as well. I'd love to hear a counter point to your experience otherwise, maybe I can send you feedback from listings showing buyers not wanting to purchase a property solely due to disgusting neighbours.
4. You say in one paragraph that the absentee landlords pay taxes so they should be able to do as they please. So can I avoid posted speed limits because I also pay taxes? That's not how the system works and you know it.
5. No one is asking for a gated community like atmosphere, the subject at hand is proposing basic standards, not unlike a building code requiring certain safety regulations for building permits. If you want to invest in a property then certain responsibility comes with that. I understand its 2020 and responsibility is almost void in our society, however one can hope that it has a chance, however reading your misguided angry comments, does deplete that hope.
6. White privilege, seriously.... seriously?
7. You keep mentioning "Help rather than complain", well isn't this suggestion helping by making landlords accountable for proper maintenance on their properties so the grass is cut for their tenants, the snow is removed, garbage isn't everywhere? Holding the landlord responsible for an investment they chose to be responsible for seems like helping. So I don't understand your push back on that unless you own rental properties and don't want the burden of putting effort in.
To use your own words, I would ask you for help, however that's your own fault and no one elses. You seem to like to be void of blame either way, however, you can't say people should offer help, yet tell them everything is their fault at the same time, see the irony hole you dug?

All homeowners should be proud of where they live. Absentee landlords don’t live in our neighbourhoods and most only care about the rent money they collect. If they took a bit of the rent money they collected and hired someone to upkeep the outside of the home it would ensure other homeowners are not affected with a decline in their homes worth. You only have to look at Real Estate prices to determine which areas have a lot of rentals with homes that have declined due to slumlords. Hickling Trail, Corbett, Bernick all come to mind. If the homeowners in those areas who upkeep their homes were in an area of neatly kept homes there would be a big jump in the value of their house and that in itself is a shame. There needs to be stricter rules for absentee or any profiting landlord in our city who do not maintain their properties. Mandating these, for profit businesses, to put a percentage of the monthly rent they collect back into property maintenance, would be a good start.

Found the pdf link to city’s brochure on Boarding Houses.
Copy, Forward and Share with everyone you know!

https://www.barrie.ca/Living/Housing-and-Property/Documents/BLR-Brochure.pdf

Every home owner, especially those in the eastend, needs to read the city’s bylaw section regarding boarding houses, or as I prefer to call them ‘business houses’ (link attached). Know the bylaws because enforcement is on a complaint basis so knowledge is crucial. When you see a legitimate infraction based on the bylaws articulated in the link site you have to call City Services, Bylaw Enforcement (705) 739-4241. The people there are very friendly, very helpful and Bylaw officers, at least in my experience, respond fairly quickly. Again, knowledge is ‘king’ but you NEED to call!!

https://www.barrie.ca/Living/Housing-and-Property/Pages/Rental-Properties.aspx#BLR

I am tired of the city of Barrie abusing the east end residents by not enforcing standards on absentee slum lords. Enact a tough law that forces registration of ALL rentals in and around Georgian College. Bring in fees to compensate the city for the extra garbage, fire, ambulance, and other burdens the tax payers are presently subsidizing for absentee land lords.
I've asked the city for measures for 25 years, and for 25 years the city has bowed to pressures from Georgian College as they are the cities biggest employer. Stop ignoring this. I PAY TAXES. I want my property rights recognized.

Absentee landlords should be held accountable but most of all, so should the renter. Their rights have become far too one-sided and the landlord should be able to terminate their agreement if they do not abide by the rules set out at the beginning. Far too many landlords are living out of the City and are not keeping an eye on their investments.

The East end has been a desirable area in which to live. There has always been a sense of pride in home ownership. Over the past few years, this has been changing as a result of houses being bought and turned into rooming houses. Often the property of these homes is strewn with garbage and the grass and weeds are rarely cut. Someone must be accountable.
How did our area become zoned R2 which permits small rooming houses rather than R1 without the residents knowing about this?
It is evident that the college needs to provide more accommodation for its students. Why should our neighbourhood become subjected to a profit making venture for greedy landlords. Let’s put the responsibility back on the college to provide affordable accommodation.