Late-night noise complaints shouldn't wait until next day, councillors argue

Ottawa city councillors say investigating noise and parking complaints the day after the complaint doesn't do much good, and want city staff to figure out how to boost bylaw staffing to deal with complaints around the clock.

• Sandy Hill residents fear police may soon ignore noise complaints

On April 1 this year Ottawa police downloaded the job of responding to noise and parking complaints to the city's bylaw services, with police now only showing up to such complaints if there's a safety risk.

Bylaw enforcement officers respond to service requests from 6 a.m. until 2 a.m. from Sunday to Thursday and until 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

But councillors near the University of Ottawa and Algonquin College say that leaves gaps in the early morning after bars close.

As a result, some 321 noise (and 456 parking) complaints from Apr. 3 to Sept. 3 weren't dealt with until the next day.

Bay Ward Coun.Rick Chiarelli says that's a problem because the noise has stopped, and the perpetrators of the noise are gone.

"The signal we will send if we do not deal with this very much in the future, is that from 2 o'clock on, you can do whatever you want, and that's not a signal you want," he said at Thursday's meeting of the community and protective services committee.

Rideau-Vanier Coun.Mathieu Fleury noted that the problem is worse, because the report includes a significant period in which university and college students were not attending school, and also because bylaw officers stop taking calls an hour before their shifts end so they can deal with paperwork.

"I think when we say that [these] calls are not an issue, I think we need to revisit that issue," he said.

Neighbour blared lawn mowersin morning after no bylaw response

Chiarelli also noted some residents have taken to what he called "created vigilantism."

"I know in my ward we have an 85-year-old gentleman who was complaining about parties happening in the night, the night before at his house," he said.

"No response, so he goes out, borrows one and purchases a second really loud lawn mower and turns them on, right on the property line next to where the noise was the night before just to retaliate."

Chiarelli said the man calculated to be sure his lawnmowers were just below the noise limit.

Councillors on the committee agreed to askcity staff to look at how to boost bylaw service so complaints for noise and parking aren't dealt with the following day - especially on weekends.