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Fst. m me Watedoo Chronicle Is published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group. a division ofSouth - em Ontarm Community Newspapers‘ inc.. a diwsion of Southam Publicar l i lions. a (LanWesl Company, l 8862830 Fax: 886-9383 editoriaWwaterioochronicle.ca salestPwaterloochronicle.ca campusing@walerlmchr0nicle,ca rhe news oi out columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent litose of the newspaper The Waning (.hmnicle welcomes learn to the Editor They should be smned with name, Bddtess and phone number and will he verkied fol sauna No unsitpted letters will be pohtished Suhmnslmw may be Muted frat length, m pleaw he hrirl Copyrmht In letters madothee malt rials submitted m the hlhllsher and screwed for puhhranon remain; mm the author hm the puhlhlm and tts licensees mnv freely Rpm dnrr them In print, electronic or other forms Our m-ilmg minim“ is 75 King St s , Soite 20I.Walerloo NN [Pl our rmlil address k editoha_Hootmmvtir9. ca. md our in number is “Hi 93m WATERLOO CHRONICLE mm Hamil Inurw fhdgway WI] Chi-Illa! (III-Ina! Mill-p1 Sin. 623-6“ 7 ken Bosceld Drbmah (Randall Mm Masher Edit-n. En. " 5 \ndrra Barley Bob Vrhanac Reporter, Err. 27 - Ballot. Eat, 225 lkb "umeld Karen Dwyer (Emulation Minn Mung". Eac22s Ania-m 75 King Sc South. Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N21 1P2 Inwmaunnal sundanl Sella! Number IXSN itlkl.? {M IO Norma (m1 Mama Hounslm Mum-III; Murmur-g Suki. Fat. 223 sues. Ext. 222 Letters Policy (mummy Publ" shuns Mat) saws Product Murmur-m Numher 905-523-5M0,Ext. 239 Associate Publisher: Audited circulation: 26,056 JUDSIHTH The existing 75 metre restriction is increasing rents, pushing students far outside of walking dis- tance to the universities. keeping poorly main- tained properties in operation and infringes on the rights of homeowners in the affected areas. The problem is serious with 14,400 students looking for shelter; something must be done before there are 17,400 in the same situation. _ Another major problem that this restriction contributes to is the rise in the amount of sub- standard, and in some cases, flagrantiy illegal rental housing in the city. While the vast majority of landlords provide good-quality accommoda- tions, there is a minority who has exploited the tight market for their own personal gain, at the expense of the safety of renters. Since only the beginning of September the University of Water- loo's Legal Resource Office has received 27 com- plaints of major incidents where a landlord has trampled on a student renter's rights. The 75 metre MDS gives delinquent landlords an effective com- petition-free bubble in which to operate, giving them no incentive to property maintain the hour ing they own - a requirement under municipal and provincial regulations. The truly galling fact about this restriction is that it also hurts the very people it purports to benefit. Ostensibly. the by-law is meant to prevent neighbourhoods from being 'unbalanced' by the introduction of too many renters. Ingtead, it esserr tially ties the hands of home owners who can no longer use their property as they see fit or sell their property to a prospective landlord, simply because their home happens to be within 75 metres of a lodging house. Needless to say, this restriction has decidedly negative impacts upon homeowners' property values. One would think that ‘ f 7 ' the city would step in to til er, l help address this pressing l 'etL'" \ issue, but instead they l have actively pursued l _ ‘ policies that make the sit- uation worse. City of l CHRISTOPHER ‘ Waterloo by-law 00-140 1 JiDEY contains a 'minimum dis- L---'-----" tance separation' (MDS) standard which forbids the establishment of a lodging house within 75 metres of an existing lodging house, in many of the neighbourhoods that surround Waterloo's two universities. A lodging house is defined as a dwelling unit containing four or more renters. The net effects of this restriction are: less choice for renters, higher rents when they do Frnd lodging and long distance commutes to school and work- places. The problem is straightforward. In only three years, the number of university students seeking off-campus housing will jump to 17,400. but unfortunately less than 50 new apartment units suitable for student housing are being built every year. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Company, Waterloo has the second-low. est rate of vacancy in all of Ontario. This combina- tion of accelerating ,__..___‘ demand and restricted l t t t, t ‘ supply is increasing rents ‘ (11115 ll l and keeping sub-stan. l COLUNINIST‘ dard rental units in use, ‘ since students confronted ‘ with the choice of a shed ‘ , ‘ dy home or no home real- . T l ly have no choice at all, I l hat creaking sound you are hearing these I days may not be the autumn winds blowing the trees clean of leaves. It is Waterloo's rental housing market and it looks ready to come crashing down on the heads of Waterloo's 14,400 student renters. City pushes student housing to the brink VIEWPOINT The trio were tops for their size and scope. University of Waterloo for the llth year in row had the best reputation among Canadian universities. it was second to the University of Guelph in the comprehensive category. Golden Diplomas: Let's have three cheers and a tiger for the three sheepskin- granting universities that thrive in our midst. They outrank all other Ontario universities, say the glowing results in Maclean's maga- zine annual ratings. He's a veteran of the times when the folks elected were faith- ful stewards on matters financial. And, unlike some of the current councillors. he wasn't given to high-decibel comments on every- thing from low tides on Laurel Creek to the high price of recre- ation parks. It'd be nice if Herb and some of his former colleagues came out of retirement to son out the muddle Waterloo affairs are in. Of course, you're dreaming if you thi k many will be taking another crack at I'd'dlr. pal life, That'd be like booking steerage pn the Titanic. It may seem unlikely. but it's not impossi- ble For instance, there's the rumour that Herb Epp may be j " tempted to run again. He's former i ()\( councillor. mayor and MPP so he ‘ I]( surely has the qualifications. Some grin with a grimness that this year's mayor and council will find it tough sledding to win spots on the new council. You don't sense it, however. Some of them still talk as if they were odds-0n bets for reelection. An interesting prospect is offered by other observers. With a wistfulness that's engaging, they talk of bringing council veterans out of retirement to run again. Onto the Hastings: The recess in the RIM Park hearings sure put a crimp in the continuing drama of dollars gone awry. One point that's getting special attention though is the next municipal election. Maybe we should shudder because he got the Aussies in that Bali bombing, and it could be we're next. of course. other countries were named too, and we'll let them go first. Odd, the mysterious bin udeii appears just as the Iraq issue heats up. It's no wonder they call it {he Muddle East. ardon the knocking of the knees, but PCsama bin laden has given Canada a dishonourable mention in his latest, back-from-the-dead recording. No wonder they call it the Muddle East lei'id Lttwier ro'se from seventii to' fifth HRUXICH SANDY Chairman Ken Seiling blames the condition of regional roads on the last decade's budget crisis when welfare coasts exploded and the money was gutted out of the roads budget. Say, a friend lives on a road with so many potholes it looks like a pinball machine with curbs, He says that any car with its wheels aligned is obvfotssly a tourist. Ash Faun: Waterloo Region's roads don'l look too good when they come up for analy- sis. Only 44 per cent are rated "good to very good," but it pales beside York, Halton and Peel regions where are at least 72 per cent of regional roads are in good condition. Le? Gas Emissions: You think RD you've seen nattering, just wait until we get deep into the Kyoto debate. It will make the RIM financing look like a yry.ieTarten puzzle. The big issue is who made the mess of hydro. Since we had all three parties in com- mand in recent years, there shouldn't be too much finger-pointing. But iCyod can riicait when hydro was a hugely successful operation, you have to he i weeping teardrops as big as , V muskmelons at the unhappy " [R ‘ fate it's in today He rolled back the price of wholesale elec- tricity and promised to refund the difference between the 4.3-cent rate and what they actually paid, retroactive to May]. Incidentally, I watched a neighbourhood kid go through four years of basketball games, cultural enrichment programs, foot- ball games. overseas study trips, band prac- tice, a wilderness survival course, not to mention remedial English, math and science. He ru1ally graduated with a BS degree. He asked me if I knew what the BS stood for. Needless to say, my first guess was wrong. Watts Up: Premier Ernie Eves has waved money in front of Ontario's harassed hydro users and he may or may not have stemmed an uprising at the fuse boxes. place in the primarily undergraduate catego- ry and is now rated the best small university in Ontario. Government seems to be able to come up with solutions that are more troublesome than the problem. And you wonder if there's nothing wrong with gov- ernment that couldn't be cured by getting mg of the politicians. Most taxpayers will realize that the rebate has to he paid back by the ever-patient taxpay- ers, and that, as a solution, it doesn't rate as one at all,