Kitchener Fire cracking down on overcrowded student houses
Posted Nov 7, 2019 12:00:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Some residents in the Lower Doon Area are concerned about overcrowding in student housing near Conestoga College.
Recently, Kitchener Fire discovered that 18 residents were living in a single family home in that neighbourhood.
Chief Fire Prevention Officer Tom Ruggle said they are trying to curb overcrowding.
“We have approximately 18 properties in the Lower Doon Area where the problem has already been addressed, or we are in the process of addressing the issue.”
He said there are safety risks that come with too many people in a single family dwelling.
“In a single family home we have a single house keeping unit, a family essentially, we have three meals being cooked a day. But in a home where we have 10 people living independently, we've got 30 meals being cooked a day – so our potential for a negative action increases.”
Ruggle said their inspections are done on a complaint basis, but noted they are taking more of a proactive approach.
“What we're finding with many of these properties is that we've had bedrooms, kitchens, or subdivisions added within the building without a permit having been taken out. In those cases what we do is, we simply just ask the property owner to return the building back to it's last legal state, because in order to add bedrooms or a kitchen, you always need a building permit.”
He said he wants to make sure that the number of the people living in a dwelling is appropriate to the design of the home.
