Sir John's Homestead Ratepayer Association
Our history
While the Association has since evolved, it and its predecessor, Review Committee, were established in response to concerns about student rentals in the neighbourhood.
Monitoring student renters
The proximity of our neighbourhood to UTM (the University of Toronto Mississauga campus) generates a tendency for students to look for rental accommodation in our neighbourhood. The management of the 61 townhouses at 3061 Sir John's Homestead have elected to rent many of these units (originally intended for low income families) to students. Many of our ratepayers desired to bring pressure to bear on the management to limit excessive noise and unruly behaviour. This is one of the reasons that the Association was formed. The Association has developed contact with appropriate Peel Police and Mississauga By-law Enforcement personnel, and interacts with the townhouse complex management on behalf of its members. For the process to make a complaint, click here.
Activities of the Review Committee
The Association was preceded by a "review committee" that was formed to counter the sudden appearance of several house conversions for high density student occupancy. In the absence of any control mechanisms for this situation the review committee worked with the City of Mississauga to draft a zoning by-law to define and control "lodging houses and lodging units". Since that time, the City has passed a zoning by-law to define Lodging Houses and Lodging Units and a licensing by-law to control the operation of lodging houses. The zoning by-law was objected to at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) but withdrawn at the hearing. It appears that appropriate control mechanisms are now in place to preserve the high quality residential character of this neighbourhood.
The Review Committee and other concerned ratepayers spent considerable time and effort to document the impact of unregulated student housing on neighbourhoods in the vicinity of universities in Ontario in order to present facts to City of Mississauga staff and council members. Considerable time and effort was also spent in monitoring City staff efforts. Ratepayers donated funds to hire legal expertise to assist in these efforts.