Kelowna could soon have a permanent supervised injection site downtown on Leon Avenue, and that’s not sitting well with some local businesses.

Nick Sintichackis owns both Tonic’s Pub and Yama’s Greek Restaurant, which are across the street from the proposed location, and says he and other local business owners think the location is a bad choice.

“We’re totally, totally, totally against a location at 477 Leon Avenue,” he told Radio West host Josh Pagé. “The ramifications of having a place there would be very detrimental to all of downtown.

“People exiting the safe injection business out onto the street: who is going to police these people? Will these people be a nuisance to staff or families with children walking downtown with their parents?”

Sintichackis says downtown Kelowna is trying to go through renewal and he’s concerned the supervised injection site would invite damage and litter as new businesses try to enter the area.

The location was first proposed last month by the Interior Health Authority because Kelowna has one of the highest rates of overdose deaths in the region.

Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran and other community professionals have already voiced their support for a facility in the city.

“People are dying, and they’re dying on our streets. This is perhaps an opportunity for them to use and be closer to help if they need it,” Basran told CBC earlier this year.

But Sintichackis says a mobile facility would be a better solution to spread the service around the city.

Sintichackis says he and other businesses will “react accordingly” based on how Interior Health proceeds with its proposed location.

Thursday is the last day for public input through Interior Health’s website about proposals in both Kelowna and Kamloops.

With files from CBC Radio One’s Radio West

To hear the full interview, click the audio labeled: Kelowna business owner ‘totally, totally, totally opposed’ to supervised injection site

The post Kelowna enterprise proprietor ‘completely, completely, completely opposed’ to supervised injection website location appeared first on KELOWNABC CANADA DAILY NEWS.

The Kelowna business landscape is about to change — at least when it comes to portable signs.

The catalyst is a new city by law that was passed unanimously Monday night.

Kelowna City Council and staff are hoping to crack down on the numerous temporary business signs that seem to have become permanent fixtures around the city.

“When you look along some of our major corridors, they’re everywhere,” said Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran.

But some business owners say if you take away their signs, it will affect they’re bottom line.

“It’s a big impact for us without a sign,” said Jiffy Lube owner Colin Friess.

Just down the street at Premium Oil Change Centre, owner Doug Wood says the crackdown may force him to lay off two of his favorite employees.

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“Patty and Penny,” said Wood.

Patty and Penny are two mannequin signs that Doug uses to attract customers; customers that provide business he says he needs to stay in business.

“There’s a lot of large corporations that do oil changes and I’m local and independent, so we have to be creative,” said Wood.

However, the city of Kelowna’s bottom line is different.

“At the end of the day, there has been a proliferation of portable signs. People weren’t following the rules and a lot of them are there illegally and we needed to crack down on that
and make our city look a little better,” said Basran

So while the city is trying to strike a balance between business and beauty, if you’re a business owner with a temporary business sign out front, you should be prepared for a temporary visit from a bylaw officer for a compliance check.

The post Kelowna’s new signal bylaw tries to steadiness enterprise, magnificence appeared first on KELOWNABC CANADA DAILY NEWS.

A known offender and a woman passenger were arrested by police after stealing a car that was left as bait by the Kelowna RCMP. (File photo)

Bait vehicle nabs known offender in Kelowna

The man and woman were arrested in the early morning on Friday, Dec. 2

Just like the cheese on a mouse trap…

In the early hours of Friday, Dec. 2, Kelowna RCMP were able to catch and arrest a known offender using a bait vehicle.

Just a few hours after setting the vehicle, police were notified it was in motion. They responded to the area of ​​Dilworth Drive where they arrested two people, a man (driver) and a woman (passenger).

Upon searching the vehicle, RCMP found extensive damage to the car’s doors and ignition and a fanny pack with a taser in it.

The driver is being held in custody and is scheduled to appear in court, while the woman passenger was released with an attendance notice for a later court date.

“This is a great success story regarding a coordinated effort to counter property crime in Kelowna between the Proactive Enforcement Unit deploying the bait vehicles in hot spots and general duty officers arresting a known property crime offender within hours of deployment,” said Kelowna RCMP Proactive Enforcement Team Cpl. Guillaume Tanguay.

READ MORE: Dumped boat makes waves in East Kelowna

READ MORE: High-end sewing machines stolen from Kelowna business

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The post Bait automobile nabs recognized offender in Kelowna appeared first on KELOWNABC CANADA DAILY NEWS.

The City of Kelowna shut down a growing downtown tent city Tuesday morning and told people who had been living there they can set up camp at two parks a few kilometers away.

Buses and police officers arrived Tuesday morning at the encampment on Leon Avenue to help people move their belongings to two parks in the city’s north end, outside of the downtown core, where portable toilets have been set up and storage will be provided for people to keep their belongings during the day.

There has been mounting pressure from downtown Kelowna businesses for the city to find a solution to the homelessness problem, much like other Interior cities that are also grappling with the issue.

Kelowna’s shelters are full, which sparked the city to designate Leon Avenue earlier this year as a space where people could legally set up tents, but the fire department has now deemed the encampment “too hazardous,” prompting Tuesday’s move to the two designated parks.

People will no longer be allowed to sleep in tents on Leon Avenue.

Police and city workers helped people living on Leon Avenue pack up their belongings on Tuesday to move to two parks where the city will permit them to sleep in tents at night. (Brady Strachan/CBC)

The early morning announcement was a surprise for people living in the encampment, as well as for people living near the two parks near Knox Mountain, with some saying the city is just moving the problem from one area of ​​town to another.

“It’s not a solution to any problem. It just shifts it over to us,” said Brent Smith, owner of the Knox Mountain Market, which is near both parks.

Camping is now permitted in a designated area at the base of Knox Mountain Park near Poplar Point Road and at a park just off of Recreation Avenue in a fenced in area behind the Kelowna Curling Club.

As of Tuesday evening, no tents had been set up at the Knox Mountain site because everyone chose to set up tents behind the Kelowna Curling Club, which is a kilometer closer to Leon Avenue, said the city’s community safety director, Darren Caul.

However, many residents living in the Knox Mountain Park area are concerned about the possibility of a tent city in their local park.

Nearly 40 people who live in the area showed up Tuesday evening to protest the move, with most saying they are upset by the lack of consultation.

‘It’s not a solution to any problem. It just shifts it over to us,’ said Brent Smith, owner of the Knox Mountain Market, which is close to both parks that people are being moved to. (Brady Strachan/CBC)

People camping in the parks will be required to take down their tents during the day and storage will be provided for their belongings.

Both parks are about a 30-minute walk from Leon Avenue, where many of the city’s support services and shelters — such as the Gospel Mission and Cornerstone — are located.

The distance from those services is a concern to some of the homeless residents.

“[Leon Avenue] is the only place where I can get a shower every two or three days, where I can get my meals and stay warm in the wintertime during the day,” said Rick Calvert as he packed up his tent Tuesday. On Monday night, temperatures in Kelowna dropped to -8 C.

The city says they moved people sleeping in tents on Leon Avenue due to safety concerns. (Brady Strachan/CBC)

The city and fire department said the move was necessary for safety reasons.

Kelowna Fire Chief Travis Whiting said in a statement that the close grouping of the tents combined with observed use of unsafe heaters on Leon Avenue was of particular concern.

The city hopes the parks will provide more space between tents and lower the risk of a fire spreading between them.

Homeless people set up their tents Tuesday afternoon in the park behind the Kelowna Curling Club after being moved from Leon Avenue. (Brady Strachan/CBC)

There were about 20 people living in tents on the downtown street during the summer, but numbers recently peaked at over 100, said Caul.

Despite available funding from BC Housing, the city still hasn’t found a location for a winter shelter. The city said in a release that the law in BC requires them to allow people to have temporary overnight shelters in designated parks or public spaces if there is insufficient housing or shelter space for those who are homeless.

Gary Baker, who lived in the Leon Avenue encampment, thinks the move will make everyone safer and it will be helpful to be able to lock up his stuff when he is at work.

“I think it’s for the best,” he told CBC’s Brady Strachan. “We’re going to be farther apart from each other, so if a fire breaks out in one tent we all don’t get it. We all got propane tanks in our tents. The whole city block could be gone.”

neighborhood protest

A combination of security, bylaw officers and RCMP will patrol the area. Two security personnel will be monitoring the sites daily between 6 pm and 10 am

Nearly 40 people living in the Knox Mountain area gathered Tuesday evening to protest the city allowing homeless people to set up camp in the neighborhood. (Chris Walker/CBC)Some people at the protest brought signs like this one. (Chris Walker/CBC)

Nolan Hyde, who has lived in the neighborhood for a year and a half, told CBC earlier in the day that the news was unexpected.

“We had people, transient people, all around Knox Mountain Park all summer doing weird stuff. It’s just, it’s scary,” he said. “Everyone’s freaked out.”

Caul said that the move to the parks is a temporary fix and the city’s priority is working with BC Housing to build more supportive housing units for 150 more people by 2021.

The post Kelowna relocates downtown tent metropolis, strikes homeless campers to parks appeared first on KELOWNABC CANADA DAILY NEWS.

A car crashed into a pole and narrowly missed smashing through a West Kelowna business’s window Monday morning.

Emergency crews were called to Hot Sox Laundry on Ross Road just after 10 am

“Upon arrival, we noticed an elderly lady had just taken out a bit of a post there,” acting fire captain Jason Weill said.

“I was inside and I heard a ‘whomp,'” laundromat owner Rob Walker said.

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It appeared that the guard rail had stopped the car from going further, Weill said.

“And also she must have had the brakes on as well,” he added.

No one was injured in the collision, and there was no damage to the inside of the business, Weill said.

The post Automotive crashes into pole, narrowly misses West Kelowna enterprise – Okanagan appeared first on KELOWNABC CANADA DAILY NEWS.

Boyds Tire and Auto Service is the latest in a growing list of businesses that are vacating the Leon Avenue area in downtown Kelowna because of the increasing size of the homeless population.

Chad Abougoush, the owner of the auto shop that sits on the corner of Leon Avenue and Water Street, says his customers are no longer comfortable coming to his location, which is down the block from a tent city.

“So because of our customer safety and how we want our customers to feel when they come into our facility that’s really pushed us to have to move,” he told Daybreak South’s Brady Strachan.

Abougoush said the dry-cleaning business next door is also leaving because of the problems associated with the number of homeless people living on the street. Others that have left the area include Vancouver Career College and Csek Creative.

‘We’re definitely very compassionate,’ says Abougoush, pictured. ‘What’s happened is, it has overcome our ability to be able to work and provide a service, and us be able to earn a paycheque.’ (Brady Strachan/CBC)

When asked how many businesses have left, Abougoush said, “How many are still here is the real question?”

Abougoush says he could go on “for hours” about the challenges his business has faced, but they include human defecation outside his property, garbage being left behind, and scrap metal being taken from the bin.

Some days he says it takes him and his staff 45 minutes to open and close the gate to where they park on the property because there is so much stuff blocking it on the sidewalk.

“We understand that these people have issues, whether it be personal or mental or anything like that,” said Abougoush, whose auto shop will relocate in the spring after seven years operating downtown.

“But you know what’s happened is it has overcome our ability to be able to work and provide a service, and us be able to earn a paycheque. That’s what it has come down to, so we’ve had to move.”

Kelowna business owners aren’t the only ones who are frustrated with the state of their downtown. Similar issues are arising in other Interior cities, such as Prince George, where one business owner said she put her business up for sale after being assaulted by someone trying to steal from her store.

People living in tents on Leon Avenue say that a lack of affordable housing and full shelters are a big part of the problem. Other barriers some face also include mental health struggles and addiction issues.

BC Housing announced there is funding for a temporary winter shelter to be set up with mats to sleep on, however the city still hasn’t been able to find a location for one. The Central Okanagan Journey Home Society, which is overseeing Kelowna’s five-year plan to address homelessness, says they hope a location is identified soon.

Tents cover the sidewalk of both sides of Leon Avenue in downtown Kelowna. (Brady Strachan/CBC)

In an emailed statement, Kelowna’s community safety director, Darren Caul, said that the law in BC specifies if there isn’t enough shelter space or housing, a city can’t ban all overnight parks and public spaces from being used for overnight shelter.

In this case, Leon Avenue has been identified as the spot where a prohibition will not be applied for overnight outdoor shelter.

“We know we need more shelter space in the city, and we must respect the legal rights of people to shelter outdoors when there is no room in the existing shelters,” said Caul.

Downtown Kelowna Association ‘not happy’

Mark Burley with the Downtown Kelowna Association said he is “not happy” that businesses feel they need to move because of issues downtown.

“We’re sad when any business moves out of downtown for whatever reason that would be, but this ongoing issue on Leon is causing this kind of thing to happen the closer you get to it,” he said.

Burley would like to see the temporary winter shelter opened and funding from higher levels of government to help with drug recovery programs to make it easier for people who want to get help.

“The province needs to get off their sorry butt and start funding some programs that are going to help these people get off the street,” said Burley.

There are currently three provincially funded supportive housing projects under construction, which are expected to provide 100 housing units in 2020.

The post Kelowna enterprise house owners say they’re leaving downtown due to homeless inhabitants appeared first on KELOWNABC CANADA DAILY NEWS.

Updated at 1:32pm

A long-time Kelowna business has been taken out of commission due to an attempted break-and-enter.

L&D Meats and Deli was not the original target of an early morning break-in today but was severely damaged nonetheless.

The target: a Bitcoin machine next door at Mike’s Produce, what the two suspects were after.

After breaking into the produce store, located at the Guisachan Village Centre, the two suspects allegedly tried to steal the machine, located against the back wall of the shop. A store employee explained that when they were unable to get it out, they fled, backing into L&D Meats and Deli and smashing through the front wall.

L&D Meats and Deli owner Don Favell said the timing for this couldn’t have been much worse, as Thanksgiving is just around the corner and customers are expecting their pre-ordered meat. However, even though the deli no longer has a storefront, Favell assured that people will get their orders.

“They will get their turkeys,” he said.

Favell has been in operation since 1996, and besides being robbed in the first year he was open, hasn’t had something like this happen since. Fortunately, Favell said the damages will be covered under insurance. For now, he said they’re focused on moving forward.

“Trying to get it up and running, that’s all we can do, look after everybody,” he said.

Original: 11:23 am

A foiled attempt to steal a Bitcoin ATM early this morning (Oct. 7) left a Kelowna business heavily damaged.

Two suspects, sought by police, allegedly rammed a white GMC Sierra pick-up truck into the exterior entrance of the building in an attempt to gain entry.

Numerous attempts to ram the building caused heavy damage to the exterior, which according to Kelowna RCMP will cost thousands of dollars to repair. Police say the two suspects fled the scene in the pickup, leaving behind a tailgate.

READ MORE: Kelowna restaurant landmark up in flames

The break-and-enter attempt took place just after 3 am in the 2000 block of Gordon Drive.

“A preliminary assessment conducted by staff on-site, suggests that despite the thousands of dollars in damage caused, nothing appears to be taken from inside the business as the suspects were unsuccessful in taking the Bitcoin ATM,” said Cst. Solana Paré, spokesperson for the Kelowna RCMP. “Forensic investigators were called upon to examine the scene for physical evidence.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300. To remain completely anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or by leave a tip online at www.crimestoppers.net.

READ MORE: BC records 102 new COVID-19 cases, 2 deaths; officials say curve is flattening

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: phil.mclachlan@kelownacapnews.com

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The post Botched Bitcoin theft leaves long-time Kelowna deli out of fee appeared first on KELOWNABC CANADA DAILY NEWS.

A known offender and a woman passenger were arrested by police after stealing a car that was left as bait by the Kelowna RCMP. (File photo)

Bait vehicle nabs known offender in Kelowna

The man and woman were arrested in the early morning on Friday, Dec. 2

Just like the cheese on a mouse trap…

In the early hours of Friday, Dec. 2, Kelowna RCMP were able to catch and arrest a known offender using a bait vehicle.

Just a few hours after setting the vehicle, police were notified it was in motion. They responded to the area of ​​Dilworth Drive where they arrested two people, a man (driver) and a woman (passenger).

Upon searching the vehicle, RCMP found extensive damage to the car’s doors and ignition and a fanny pack with a taser in it.

The driver is being held in custody and is scheduled to appear in court, while the woman passenger was released with an attendance notice for a later court date.

“This is a great success story regarding a coordinated effort to counter property crime in Kelowna between the Proactive Enforcement Unit deploying the bait vehicles in hot spots and general duty officers arresting a known property crime offender within hours of deployment,” said Kelowna RCMP Proactive Enforcement Team Cpl. Guillaume Tanguay.

READ MORE: Dumped boat makes waves in East Kelowna

READ MORE: High-end sewing machines stolen from Kelowna business

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The post Bait car nabs identified offender in Kelowna appeared first on KELOWNABC CANADA DAILY NEWS.

More multi-family rental-only affordable housing could soon be coming to Kelowna, pending council’s final approval.

A 6.5-storey building with 46 units — 35 of which are three-bedroom apartments — is proposed at 969 Harvey Avenue, adjacent to an already-standing 64-unit apartment building. The site is owned by the Evangelical Family Rental Housing Society.

Several variations are required to be approved for the project to move ahead, the most significant of which is a proposed decrease in the minimum off-street parking from 78 stalls to 52 stalls.

“Staff are recommending support for this variance as the project is truly an affordable housing project with the guarantee of rental housing, the site’s proximity to the Ethel Street active transportation corridor and proximity to two urban centers (downtown and Capri/Landmark),” city planners wrote.

The property is subject to lower parking requirements due to its rental only designation but city staff said that reduction alone isn’t enough due to the way parking is mandated outside of urban centres.

“The rates are based on the number of bedrooms with 3-bedroom units requiring 2 stalls per dwelling unit. The applicant is proposing to vary the parking rate down to the equivalent Urban Center parking rate (1 stall per unit plus required visitor stalls).”

Unless a multi-level parkade is constructed, city staff said there is no further room on-site to expand parking.

The developer said it is anticipated that the surplus of parking at the existing building — 97 stalls — will be shared among both buildings.

Other proposed variances include the increase of the maximum site coverage to 70 per cent from the currently allowed 50 per cent and a setback variance.

Council will consider the development at its Tuesday meeting on Nov 17.

READ MORE: Zoning issues block Kelowna business owner’s dream

READ MORE: City of Kelowa Remembrance Day hours of operation

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