Brian McHattie - Ward 1 Councillor


The Councillor » About Brian » Brian At City Hall » Brian's Meetings » Contact Brian » Subscribe to Brian's Email Updates The Ward » Map » Ward Meetings » On-going Activities » Neighbourhood and Business Associations Issues & News » Issues/Current Projects » Useful Information » News/Media Releases » Upcoming Events » Photo Gallery » Dedication to Betty Blashill » Home Page	Licensing Rental Housing Licensing of rental housing has been suggested as a tool to monitor the safety of student housing and to help maintain the ratio of permanent resident/student housing in a community. In January 2007, the Municipal Statute Law Amendment Act, 2006 (Bill 130) came into effect. As a result of these changes, the regulation containing the prohibition which prevented a municipality from licensing the business of renting residential units was removed. Thus municipalities are now able to introduce legislation that would permit licensing of rental dwelling units. However, the Province did not provide much detail on how the licensing would work, so municipalities across the province are individually looking at licensing to determine what will work in their respective communities. In May 2007, Councillor McHattie introduced a motion directing staff to investigate and report back on the enactment of a bylaw that would regulate student rental housing in the neighbourhoods around McMaster University and Mohawk College (as provided for in Bill 130), including but not limited to issues such as how to identify subject properties, enforcement, and experiences from other “town and gown” communities. In December 2007, staff presented an information report entitled “Tools for Dealing with Student Housing Licensing Staff (PED07296)” to the Economic Development & Planning Committee. It indicates that staff will be conducting detailed research on: 1. The implementation of a Zoning By-law to limit the number of bedrooms to five for new dwellings or for interior renovations of existing dwellings; 2. A formal licensing system for student rental housing; and, 3. The use of a Community Improvement Plan pursuant to the Planning Act as a tool to encourage the de-conversion of existing student rental housing in defined areas. This report is tentatively scheduled to be presented to Council in September, 2008. The Town & Gown Association of Ontario is monitoring what other municipalities are doing about this issue. See the summary for more information. On October 14, 2008, staff presented a report entitled "Review of Tools for regulating Residential Rental Housing (PEDF07296(a))" to the Committee of the Whole. The recommendations that were approved include setting up a Community Liaison Committee (CLC) whose mandate is to "obtain input from the community to determine the appropriateness, potential effectiveness and the prospective extent of a strategy for regulating residential rental housing". October 30, 2008 - Applications to sit on the CLC are now available. Deadline for applications is November 14, 2008, 4:30 p.m. December 12, 2008 - The committee selection has been completed and approved by Council on December 10. Committee Membership The committee will hold its first meeting in early 2009 and is tentatively expected to complete the work by early summer 2009. A Public Information Meeting for Ward 1 Residents was held on May 28, 2009 at McMaster University. More information. Resident Questionnaire - due July 10, 2009 Tenant Questionnaire - due June 15, 2009 September 8, 2009 - Report 09-001 of the Neighbourhood Residential Rental Housing Community Liaison Committee (Wards 1, 8, 10 &12) was presented to the Economic Development and Planning Committee March 2, 2010 - Report PED10049 - Neighbourhood Residential Rental Housing Community Liaison Committe - Proactive By-law Enforcement Pilot Program (Wards 1 and 8) was presented to the Economic Development and Planning Committee