Background: In 2019 a developer bought an old semi-detached house on Euclid and converted it without building permits into an illegal four-level rooming house. On August 17, 2022, he will ask the Committee of Adjustment to grant a “minor variance” in order to "legalize" this property. 

Call to Action: Palmerston Area Residents’ Association welcomes more rooming houses to our neighbourhood – we need more affordable housing -- but we are opposing this application on multiple grounds. 

The by-law permits a 6-room rooming house, but the applicant seeks approval for 22 living units: that is not a "minor variance." The impact on tenants and neighbours is not and will not be “minor” - it involves the safety and quality of life of the tenants and neighbours, because the applicant has refused to allow building, drainage and housing inspectors into 400 Euclid. There is no fire inspection report. The applicant continues to ignore multiple city orders to allow inspections. 

Help us deter developers who ignore the laws and in so doing put vulnerable tenants at risk.

Petition:

To the Committee of Adjustment regarding A0459/22TEY, 400 Euclid Avenue:

As a community member, I oppose this application to legalize an illegally constructed rooming house by way of a variance to the zoning law. 

This variance request is not “minor,” as the application states, but extreme and unprecedented: the by-law permits a 6-room rooming house, but the applicant wants approval for 22 units. 

Since there are no fire inspection reports, building inspection reports or permits, or drainage plans or permits in this file, I am concerned about the ongoing health and safety of tenants and neighbours. 

This proposal is not appropriate for the land or building. The drainage burden on century-old sewer systems, the lack of a plan for garbage and recycling management combined with reduced landscaping, and possible structural damage to the attached house have not been addressed.

The applicant has a long record of failing to comply with municipal laws. There is a  great difference between what the by-law permits and what he has requested. The safety of tenants and neighbours is at risk. Granting this variance will undermine public trust in the zoning laws and procedures that our community is built on. 

Please reject this application. Thank you.