Madison Erhardt
Businesses and landowners near the new homeless shelter on Richter Street in Kelowna speak of an increase in crime and safety concerns.
Deanne Collinson owns the building at 1036-1050 Judges St. and says there has been an increase in “scary behavior” in the neighborhood since the shelter opened in January.
“One of my tenants reported that one of their customers was threatened by someone who had come out of the shelter. It had razor blades and was really unstable, “said Collinson, adding that the customer will likely” never come back “.
She says crime has increased dramatically in the past few weeks.
“The activity has really increased with the better weather, so there’s a lot of activity out here. People parked and there were drug stores right outside the stores. “
Collinson says she understands the shelter is needed, but says that something needs to be done about the crime.
“It’s the prevalence of drugs and drug use in the area and the resulting behavior.”
Shari McDowell, owner of Azimuth Solar Products and Aquassure Accessible Baths, says her businesses are being targeted on a daily basis.
“Every night I am woken up at 1 a.m., 2 a.m. at 3 a.m., my motion detectors go off, people rattle on the doors, people hit the building. I haven’t slept through the night since the shelter opened. “
The shelter in the former Tree Brewing home is expected to be operational until March 2022 after being extended due to the pandemic.
Caitlin McKenny, director of the shelter site, says she sympathizes with businesses in the community and says they are taking a variety of steps to help, including increasing security and foot patrols to regularly remove trash and paraphernalia in the Eliminate area.
The city of Kelowna says it is working with the bylaw services and the RCMP to address the concerns.
“In the past week and a half, the number of RCMPs and statutes in the region has increased. RCMP has foot patrols in the area already starting walks and talking. They stop by companies, share their information, hear the concerns, and tell who and when to call, ”said community security director Darren Caul.
Caul said the city also increased its private security surveillance in the area this week from six to 14 hours a day.
Collinson says she has now bought a fence that will surround the back of her building. The fence is expected to be installed in the coming weeks and will cost around $ 20,000.
