The residents of Lawnview Dr. and its neighbouring streets in a quiet North York community are fed up.

They’re tired of inaction by the city and the local councillor, inaction by the police and most of all they’re tired of what’s happening inside 33 Lawnview Dr., near Bayview Ave. and Finch Ave. E.

The property, as described on short-term rental sites, is a 6,500-square-foot house featuring seven bedrooms that sleeps 16, and has a backyard pool.

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It is also frequently rented out for parties — large and loud parties.

“It virtually affects the whole adjacent community,” said nearby resident Harvey Glasner. He said the noise that residents of Lawnview, Byng Avee and Chiswell Cresc. are subjected to at night is unbearable.

The home has been rented out through AirBnB and is often used for weekend houses parties that attract hundreds of young drunken people and loud music. (Dan Pearce/Torstar)

One neighbour, 12-year-old Kohei Morimoto, said the most recent party on July 3 went so long and so loud that the next morning when he got up he couldn’t watch TV because the party was still going on with a sound system set up outdoors.

“It was like an earthquake,” he said.

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His family’s home backs onto the property of 33 Lawnview Dr., and also ends up with garbage thrown over the fence onto their property. Trespassers have even gone onto their property to hop the fence into the party house.

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The residents, who came out as a group to speak about the issue, say that party on July 3 was the loudest and the worst, but that this has been going on for months.

Next-door neighbour Daisy Kwan said she first observed parties back in December but because it was winter and people’s windows were closed it wasn’t much of a problem, save for the number of cars parked on the street, where parking is prohibited.

Once the weather got hot, it became noisy pool parties with speaker systems set up outdoors.

Parties at the property were advertised on social media by DJs or event promoters. The July 3 event was advertised with an admission fee of $10 for guys before 9 p.m. or $15 after, and free for girls before 8 p.m. or $5 after. DJ Breezy, who was advertised to be providing entertainment that night, did not respond to a request for comment.

Neighbours estimate 200 people showed up to the July 3 event.

Garbage is left behind on the front lawn of 33 Lawnview Dr. following a house party. (Daisy Kwan photo)

The property was originally posted on Airbnb.com, at a cost of just more than $1,000 per night, but it has since been removed from that platform. It is now advertised on vrbo.com where it is listed at an average cost of $694 per night.

When asked for comment related to the issue, Airbnb said in an email, “While this property was already removed from our platform, we have high standards for our hosts and ask that they all show respect and consideration for their neighbours.”

The property owner, Susan Lin, said when reached for comment that there will be no more parties at the house. She said the July 3 event was the last one. She has cancelled all single-night rentals, she said, and would only consider multi-night bookings to eliminate these types of parties from happening.

“Only families stay here now,” she said.

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Lin said she wasn’t aware that neighbours were so bothered by what was happening at her property until recently, and that she left her number with neighbours and asked if things were OK. She plans on moving into the house with her children in September.

Even if the parties stop, Glasner is still upset by the response by officials. He said when residents called police no one showed up for hours and by the time they did the parties had ended. When the city was called to enforce parking regulations, bylaw enforcement was often not available — Glasner said occasionally a few cars would get ticketed. On some occasions, residents said, partygoers filled up the entire street, making it impossible for anyone to drive into or out of the neighbourhood.

“It’s very disturbing and we don’t feel safe. We don’t feel supported by police,” Glasner said.

Ward 23 Willowdale Coun. John Filion said the city is doing what it can to deal with the problem, such as handing out parking tickets, but its hands are tied currently as the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal, formerly the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), is set to review the short-term rental property bylaws the city had passed a year ago.

“More than a year ago we passed a series of rules that made what’s going on here illegal, but that was appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board by Airbnb and so it’s still not law,” he said.

An OMB hearing is set for Aug. 26.