Region takes control at troubled Kitchener housing co-op

A sign is seen outside the Sand Hills Co-Op on Chandler Drive in Kitchener, Ont., on Monday, April 15, 2013. (CTV Kitchener)

A troubled housing co-op in central Kitchener has been taken over by the Region of Waterloo.

Regional authorities swooped into Sand Hills Co-Op at 250 Chandler Drive on Monday, booting out the co-op’s board and appointing four replacements.

Under provincial law, the region is responsible for supervision of the co-op’s management.

“We also provide about $500,000 in property tax money to that co-op each year for subsidies and upkeep,” regional chair Ken Seiling tells CTV.

“We’ve had numerous complaints for some time about the condition of (Sand Hills).”

Among those complaints are allegations of unwarranted or excessive spending, failing to hold meetings and not providing adequate property management.

Seiling says previous attempts by the region to take action at Sand Hills were met with hostility.

“After hearing lots of complaints about the condition of the property, we did send an engineer in who was chased off the property,” he says.

The new board members appointed by the region have local housing and co-op experience.

But some Sand Hills residents, like Carolann Rowe, say they’re not happy about the change.

“They are removing our board as of today and are replacing it with strangers who do not live in our co-op, which is not very cohesive with what a co-op is,” she tells CTV.

Seiling says he’s heard complaints from residents that the region hasn’t done enough to help deal with ongoing problems at Sand Hills.

Five months ago, the region sent the co-op board a warning letter outlining 26 steps the board had to take to bring the co-op in compliance with the Housing Act.