Embrace the Student Communities Around UOIT/Durham College

To:  City of Oshawa - Mayor & Councillors

Petition the City of Oshawa to:

1. Accept the rezoning of the property previously designated for an elementary school as requested by Country Gate Homes
2. Carefully modify the existing R1 Zoning and Residential Licensing Bylaws in our communities to properly accommodate the growth of UOIT and Durham College.

Reasoning:

As the new University, UOIT, unfolded, the University and the City of Oshawa did not do the due diligence to ensure adequate student housing for the students that were to enroll, and thus this land provides a perfect opportunity to absorb most of the excess student population looking for boarding accommodation.

Landlords (investors) have purchased many of the properties surrounding the university campus and have now been restricted by a forced upon City bylaw, this land servers as a perfect location for excess students.

Many families have moved out of the community, the school board of Ontario has decided against the proposed elementary school, and the student population is already strong in this area. This provides a perfect environment for a development which is designed for students.

Country Gate Homes, the current owner of the property, has decided to embrace the economic engine of Oshawa and help the community by providing much needed student accommodation. Country Gate Homes has realized the wasted effort of developing single family homes in North Oshawa due to its competitor, Tribute, who is struggling with sales in the Winfield Farms community.

Their plan would add a minimum of 445 students into this new development and would be completely separated from single family residents; less students populating additional homes in the community.

Students have been experiencing strong discrimination from various groups which have been created in the North Oshawa communities. After dealing with issues of angry home owners vs. Students for 3 years, the City of Oshawa should do their part to embrace the student population into communities surround UOIT/Durham College. The first step is to accept the zoning changes of this property directly across from the university campus.

The requested solution:
This current proposal from Country Gate Homes directly supports the growth of the fastest growing university in Canada, if not North America. This petition asks city council to consider 2 initiatives for embracing the economic engine of Oshawa:
1. Accept the rezoning proposal from Country Gate Homes, as this will help keep the student population in one place and help serve as additional accommodation for students who already find it difficult to find boarding.
2. Rethink the current form of the Residential Rental Licensing bylaw. Students already occupy much of the communities around the university campus and the bylaw spreads the perceived ‘problem’ further throughout Oshawa.
Why are we signing this petition?
1. If we live in North Oshawa, it is a reminder that the university is here to stay and we need to embrace students into our community like every other university city in Ontario.
2. The supply for student accommodation surrounding the university campus is already well below current demand. This development completely supports this issue by providing additional accommodation to students in need.
3. Instead of providing homes to more families in the area, the developer has recognized the real need in this community, student accommodation. Analyze any university city in Ontario, even North America, the one common success factor of these cities is their ability to properly control all aspects of a university community; especially student accommodation within 2 – 3 kilometers of the university campus.
4. If we do not live in North Oshawa, it is a reminder that discrimination in any form is unacceptable in Canada.

We are all sending a clear message to the Mayor and City council – do the job you were elected to do – support the residents and students of the city of Oshawa.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Embrace the Student Communities Around UOIT/Durham College Petition to City of Oshawa - Mayor & Councillors was created by Residents and Students around UOIT and written by Costa Frickleton (costafrickelton@hotmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.