Thousands of people travelled to Waterloo this past weekend to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, which meant that the city was on high alert for noise complaints and other nuisance-related calls. Today, it was reported that city officials responded to 75 calls regarding noise, nuisance, and lot maintenance complaints between Friday at 5 p.m. and Monday at 7 a.m.
Additionally, 16 penalty notices were issued during this period — according to a city official, all of these are believed to be connected to an unsanctioned street party that took place on Saturday in the university district. The notices issued are as follows: noise (five), public urination (three), nuisance party (three), nuisance noise (two), occupy a roof (two), and operate business without a license (one). The fines range from $400 to $800 per notice.
According to UW student Sam Obadia, Saturday was much busier than Sunday in terms of celebrations: “the energy was very fun, but it was packed… once it picked up, [you] could barely move [because so much] was going on.” Obadia also noted that students from other universities across Ontario were joining in the weekend’s festivities. “A lot of [people] from out of town were texting me, saying they were coming… I think that shows how popular [St Patrick’s] is here,” she said.
Though the Waterloo Regional Police Service installed CCTV cameras around Uptown Waterloo in preparation for the busy weekend, Obadia said that in her experience, “everyone looked like [they] had a fun and safe time.” The only slightly unusual thing she saw was someone climbing a tree in order to save a cat.
The scene of Waterloo St. Patrick’s Day celebrations on Saturday, March 16. (Photo credit: Paul Sherk)
The scenes around Uptown Waterloo on Sunday, March 17. (Photo credit: David Yin)
