A concerned father held an information session on Taylor Avenue, as tenants prepare for what he says is possible “renovictions.”
The owner of the building, Foundation Capital, is hoping to add 28 units, 14 to both 43 and 49 Taylor Avenue, by reconfiguring the current apartments.
The planning application went before Chatham-Kent (CK) council, where council voted against the application and possible renovictions. However, the company that owns the buildings has since taken the issue to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT).
The appeal was set to take place on Monday, but the municipality decided not to fight the issue, sending the hearing straight to a settlement. The OLT is expected to give its decision within the next 30 to 60 days. If the OLT approves the planning application, tenants could see N13 forms as soon as the next day.
An N13 form is a notice given by landlords that ends a tenancy when there are plans to demolish or extensively renovate rental units.
Organizer of the information session Doug Wilson explained that the meeting was held to keep everyone in the loop.
"There's been very little information posted by either the building owners or by the council," said Wilson. "It's not fair to them [tenants] to be left in the dark."
Wilson's son rents a two-bedroom apartment on Taylor Avenue, and according to Wilson, is in the line of fire should renoviction notices be given.
"It doesn't matter how old your kids are, when you hear that something bad could potentially happen to them, you want to get involved," Wilson explained.
The concerned father added that seeing the municipality step down from the OLT appeal was hurtful.
"It was disappointing to think that our council, who talks about representing the best interest of our residents, basically turned their back on them without any real justification," Wilson continued.
Councillor Alysson Storey was in attendance for Wilson’s meeting.
“When you change three-bedroom apartments for families to micro bachelor units, those families can no longer live there,” said Storey. “I really do worry about where those families are going to go.”
CK News Today reached out to Foundation Capital for comment but hasn't received a response at this time.
This isn't the first case of renovictions within the municipality. Back in January, all the tenants of Terrace Forty received N13 forms. This prompted CK council to approve a Renoviction By-Law. However, this added protection for tenants won't be adopted until October.
The information session was held on Wednesday at the courtyard between 43 and 49 Taylor Avenue.
