City hall is moving to crack down on a handful of frat houses in the Annex whose out-of-control parties have sparked complaints about crude and drunken behaviour.
Coun. Adam Vaughan, whose downtown ward encompasses the area, said five or six of the Annex's 24 fraternities and sororities are responsible for creating problems that are "terrorizing" neighbours.
Vaughan has heard complaints about bonfires being set in the street, someone yelling "rape" in the middle of the night to rouse people from their sleep and partygoers tossing beer bottles at parked vehicles or defecating on them.
Neighbours have repeatedly complained about the noise, garbage and vandalism, but the houses in question haven't cleaned up their act, he said.
"Talking to them hasn't worked, sending bylaw officers hasn't worked, sending police hasn't worked," Vaughan told CP24 on Friday.
Vaughan said city hall may re-classify some student houses as rooming houses to give inspectors the power to inspect them and punish repeat offenders.
The measures are meant to bring the troublemakers under control and to keep their neighbours happy.
"All we're asking is (to) keep the noise inside, keep the garbage off the streets and please just respect your neighbours," Vaughan said. "If they do that we're fine. If they don't do that we're going to find a way to get them to behave like normal people."
