Sandy Hill residents can make noise complaints with new website

A websitethat lets Sandy Hill residents makenoise complaints directly to participating propertylandlords is now live.

Noise in Sandy Hill is a pilot project created by the Eastern Ontario Landlord Organization and operated by the Sandy Hill Town and Gown Committee, a joint City of Ottawa and community organization.

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"I just see it as one of many tools that we need to have in Sandy Hill to make sure that things like noise are addressed," said Bob Forbes, who sits on the committee and is the vice president of Action Sandy Hill.

"It really will help, I think, landlords who are serious about dealing with problems and being better neighbours."

Sandy Hill, a neighbourhood east of the University of Ottawa campus, includes longtime residents and shorter term students.

Usually, noise complaints are handled by Ottawa bylaw officers when residents call 311, and those officers deal directly with tenants when issuing fines. This initiative aims to bring neighbours and property owners closer together in dealing with bothersome noise.

"If there's a loud party and bylaw comes in and fines the tenants, then the landlords aren't informed of that," said Forbes."There's no right of the landlord to know who is a problem in terms of noise at all."

Reports made online go directly to the landlords who agree to be a part of it.

Supplemental tool to 311

"It doesn't replace the existing system at all, it's just a supplement to it," Forbesadded.

"So for example, if there's a noisy party next door to you, you would report it to 311 as usual, you would get a reference number, and then you would go to this website, and you could log your complaint into the website."

Forbes and other community leaders will analyze the data collected by Noise in Sandy Hill in the coming months to gauge its effectiveness. He's urging all property owners in the neighbourhood to come on board.

"It's really dependent on the good will of the landlord in question. So if you have a good landlord and they want tohave good relationships with the neighbours around them, then they'll be checking in, and if there's a complaint, then they'll be speaking to their tenants."

• Listen here to Hallie Cotnam's conversation with Bob Forbes.