Concerns shared about high occupancy homes in Ravines of Lindsay subdivision
Emma Ekin, representing residents from the Ravines of Lindsay subdivision on Angeline Street North, spoke to council recently about poorly kept and over-tenanted homes.
Ekin and her husband purchased their home in the upscale sub-division in the early 2020s expecting the development to be a collection of single-family homes that were owner-occupied. Much to their surprise, they have discovered since that many properties at the Ravines have been purchased for the sole purpose of renting, some for the short-term, some longer term, and others to be used as high-occupancy student housing.
She urged council to act after years of problems tied to high-occupancy rental homes and absentee landlords. Complaints included uncollected garbage, overgrown lawns, on-street overflow parking, speeding, and rats attracted to unkempt lots.
The deputant described touring a renovated property converted from a four-bedroom single-family house into a nine-bedroom, eight-bathroom unit.
“Many of us are starting to feel that we live in a slum,” she told council.
She called for urgent city action, including clearer enforcement, occupancy limits and geographic restrictions on high-occupancy houses to protect safety, cleanliness and neighbourhood harmony.
Coun. Mark Doble, who represents Ward 5 where the sub-division is located, put forward a resolution to ask staff to investigate the merits of a licensing bylaw for high-occupancy residences, which was passed.
Not taking anything away from the totality of the story and the neigbor’s experience, but just to focus on one aspect.
Overgrown Lawns are a permissable standard in the City of Kawartha Lakes since summer 2024.
On July 23, 2024 CKL Council adopted a By-Law amendment to the City’s Yard Clean and Clear By-law 2014-026 to permit long grasses and Native plants (sometimes called weeds) in urban areas as outlined in Report LGL2024-004.
Previously the City’s Yard Clean and Clear By-law was just that – lawns must be cut, or the city would cut it for you and send you the bill.
The amendment to By-Law 2014-026 included provisions for long grasses (Longer than 8 inches) and non-noxious weeds to be permitted to grow on private property in urban areas in the City of Kawartha Lakes, such as on the lawn next door to your $1.2 Million home on Connolly Rd in Lindsay.
Despite having thousands of acres of farm, forest and grasslands in Kawartha Lakes for the bees to frolick and pollinate, your council has decided that your neighbor in an urban area can have a complely unkempt lawn, with tall grasses, weeds and just about anything else growing (except noxious weeds) and no, there’s not a darn thing you can do about it.
This is just one part of being a Bee Friendly City which is perhaps wonderful for Bees, but does absolutley nothing for Crime, Homelessness, Drug Addiction, the lack of Family Doctors, or the growing unkempt state of Lindsay – Been on Lindsay St South lately?
Thankfully, there is a municiapl election in 2026, and we get to provide our Council Members with feedback when they ask for our vote.
Think of it as their performance review. We get to ask them – Why does council prioritize Pollinator Lawns that look terrible over dealing with growing Crime? Why are roads and traffic perenially an unsolved problem in Kawartha Lakes? Why are my taxes going up twice or three time the rate of inflation? Why are my water and sewer rates in Lindsay nearly double the water and sewer rates in Peterborough?
And finally, the all purpose question: What have you done for me lately Mr/Ms Councillor, because I’m not feeling the “Exceptional Quality of Life” that the city of Kawartha Lakes touts in all its marketing and promotion.