City of Kelowna committed to mitigating crime issues in wake of business complaints

The City of Kelowna says it’s aware of crime complaints from business owners in the downtown’s north end, and is keeping a close eye on the situation.

The businesses are located along the 1000 block of Richter Street, where in January a homeless shelter opened.

“We’ve certainly heard the concerns and those concerns have been backed up with some of the information we have received from RCMP and bylaw services as well,” said Darren Caul, community safety director for the City of Kelowna.

“Since the shelter came in across the street, we’re having nothing but problems,” said Geoff Storozuk, owner of Altered Ego Motorsports.

The business operators cited frequent public drug use, property crime and violent behaviour as some of the problems they are now dealing with regularly.

“I’ve been threatened more than once,” said Shari McDowell, owner of both Azimuth Solar Products and Aquassure. “People walking around with large sticks hitting the building. I’ve been afraid to leave the building.”

Caul said the city is working closely with RCMP, B.C. Housing and the shelter operator, Turning Points Collaborative Society, to take swift action to mitigate the problems.

2:09 Business owner apologizes for poop tossing incident

“We are more than doubling the amount of security and patrols in the area,” Caul told Global News. “RCMP have focused foot patrol … and those (officers) are being deployed to the area for foot and bike patrols and we’re also expanding bylaw services in the area.”

Caul said the city is prepared to do more if needed.

“We will continue to monitor the situation, and, if more is required, we are committed to working with B.C. Housing and the shelter operator and doing more,” he said.

But business operators say they feel defeated by bearing the brunt of two shelter sites in the area — the one on Richter street, as well as the city-designated overnight homeless camp on the other side of the block.

“We’re getting it here and on the other end of the block with the other shelter,” said Storozuk.

Caul said the city is legally required to provide an outdoor campsite when there is not a sufficient amount of shelter space in the community.

While he empathizes with the business owners, he said finding a suitable outdoor site has its challenges.

“We have a legal requirement for those sites to be proximal to health and social services. They have to be proximal to key services and that really limits the sites that are viable for us,” Caul said.

“We recognize that that creates a congregation in that area and by flooding it with security, bylaw, social and health services and police, we’re confident that will be able to minimize the impact.”

Despite business owners saying crime has grown since the shelter opened, Kelowna RCMP say it’s impossible to attribute crime fluctuations directly to one issue or change.

But an RCMP spokesperson did say that areas, which experience increased calls for police service, do get additional patrols and often enforcement.

“It is critically important for communities and businesses, when they are experiencing these kinds of incidents, to actively report that information to the police,” Caul said. “And then from that, the police can deploy the right level of resources to the area.”

1:52 Protesters create tent city to oppose shelter closure