By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

Businesses near Supervised Consumption Site say they’re suffering

Jul 18, 2018 | 9:36 AM

LETHBRIDGE – Tuesday afternoon in the middle of July, on 1 Ave. S. near Stafford Drive, dust is kicked up by vehicle after vehicle driving past local businesses on their way to somewhere else.

The parking lot at Bert and Mac’s Sports has a couple of cars in it, the Grey Goat home decor store just behind it is attended by one staff member. No one else is there at the moment. 

“Why would you want to come down here? Honestly, it’s a spectacle.” 

 

– Becky Van Sluis

The Dollar Tree across the street is advertising for new employees but is having trouble keeping its own staff because staff say they’re afraid to go to work, and the new kid on the block – Long and McQuade Music, has only been open for a couple of days.

Other businesses like a liquor store and a massage therapy clinic keep their doors locked; buzzing in clientele only if they have an appointment or don’t appear intoxicated.

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Some might speculate that 1 Ave. S. is not generally a very busy area – or that it could just be a slow day.

But that’s not what local business owners and managers LNN spoke with would say.

That’s because there is one spot that is constantly busy. Day or night, almost anytime during the week.

That is the supervised consumption site.

Since it opened in late February, there have been more than 20,000 visits as of the end of June. Because of the explosive demand by hundreds of addicts and users in the community, the number of booths to inject, inhale, or take pills has been increased and a new inhalation room is/was being built.

The site now runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and about 100 people work there.

It’s meant as place for those who are addicted to illicit drugs and alcohol to come and use safely, while having access to things like counselling, medical aid, treatment recommendations, cultural understanding and a host of other services.

Since Hamilton’s Carpet One owner Doug Hamilton spoke out about the way his business has been affected after the opening of the supervised consumption site, many others have reached out to LNN as well.

We spoke with owners and managers in person, left contact information, or tried contacting nearly a dozen businesses either directly surrounding the site, or in the immediate neighborhood.

Most said they were fed up with the financial, personal and even emotional toll they believe those using the supervised consumption site have taken on them and their employees.

These are a few of their stories.

Long and McQuade

Formerly located in downtown Lethbridge on 8 St. S., the new location along 1 Ave. S. has only been open two days. It’s much bigger than the previous location. It houses not only huge musical instrument/ equipment sections, but also a busy music school.

Manager Dave Khallil says so far, so good, however there were initially some concerns moving just two doors away from the supervised consumption site.

“We do have a music school with younger students and older students, so that was a big concern for us, just to make sure that everything was going to be ok for them as well as our regular customers.”

He says prior to opening, they met with an ARCHES director who put a lot of their concerns to rest.

“As of yet, we haven’t had any instances of note. ARCHES has been very accommodating and willing to work with us. We signed up for their community program for security and cleanup. We did have a little bit of debris that needed taking care of, and they looked after it immediately after we called them. We’ve been in contact with them multiple times throughout the move.”

That said, Khallil points out that the store does have security cameras, extra outdoor lighting and rolling security gates. And for any parents or students concerned about their children being dropped off there for lessons, he says security officers will help.

“We have set up the Paladin Security team to come over and just be present during drop off and pick-ups of students. We’ve let them know what some of our peak times are to be watching, and they’re more than happy to come over here and be present while some of the more vulnerable students would be entering or exiting the building.”

Bert and Mac’s Source for Sports

Peggy Charter-Pohl is the Controller at Bert and Mac’s; a business that’s been operating in Lethbridge for nearly 80 years. She says since the supervised consumption site opened, they’ve not only found needle debris, but business is down significantly, long-time customers have told them they won’t be back, and some employees are fearful of coming to work.

She also emphatically states that prior to the site opening, neither the city nor ARCHES consulted with them about any potential impact it may have on their business.

“We were never consulted. Period.”

Charter-Pohl explains that until now they haven’t been too vocal about what they’ve experienced, but no more.

“We have tried to do it by the book. Okay? We have had conversations with the city, and actually as far as (Mayor Chris) Spearman, were told, it’s a done deal. We were told too bad. We have tried to cooperate with ARCHES. We get the same, excuse my French, B.S. blown up our butt every single time. We’re done. We’re done being nice and just kowtowing.”

Charter-Pohl says business was “bustling” prior to the supervised consumption site opening, but that began to change about two weeks later, when staff began to find needles and other debris in their parking lot or around their building. When asked about specific numbers, she told LNN they weren’t available yet.

Her criticism became even more sharp when asked her thoughts about ARCHES not anticipating the huge demand for services the organization is now experiencing.

“They’ve been in this business a very long time. And I’ve heard that argument from them. Your mandate is to attract addicts to your consumption site. For you to step back and say we had no idea, then you haven’t done your due diligence. That is what that proves to me. I’ve heard that argument and it’s B.S.”

In response to concerns from area businesses, ARCHES has employed a small team of security guards that patrol three blocks directly west and east of the facility. Charter-Pohl says it has made somewhat of a difference.

“It does to some extent. However, they’re as hampered as anyone else. With this kind of activity, it’s quick. When they’re shooting up, it only takes a couple of minutes and then they move. Dealing, open drug dealing, we’ve come across it more than once in our parking lot. They don’t care. They’re that brazen. If we call Paladin they’re very supportive, but the incident is over, done with, gone.”

And she believes it’s too late now, to change people’s perceptions of the area.

“We feel it’s unfair after the damage is done to go back to businesses and say, well what do you want to do about it? That’s not a fair question. Because this should have been done prior to, and not after the fact.”

Dollar Tree

“It’s been awful,” says Danielle Desroches.”Half our co-workers don’t want to come to work. We’ve had two people quit, because they’re too scared to come to work. “

At the Dollar Tree where Desroches has been an assistant manager for the last year, and an employee for the last five years, she says not only has her job become stressful to the point she’s considering leaving, but it has also become dangerous at times.

She explained how the same morning LNN spoke with her, she had to call Lethbridge Police because of an incident involving a woman attempting to shoplift items from the store.

“This morning I had a lady in. She was filling a bag with food. I’ve kicked her out before. I told her to leave, that she was trespassing. She didn’t like that. She got in my face, in my co-worker’s faces and she tossed the bag at me filled with bottles. It was a pretty heavy bag. Then she kicked over a display stand and headed out the door. I’m calling the cops every day pretty much.”

That incident is just one of many Desroches said occur every day. And she too believes the situation has become unmanageable, especially over the last four months.

“We’re noticing they’re coming from across the street, and that’s also where they’re running. They’ll come fill birthday bags and tote bags with chocolate bars, food and they’re on drugs, and they’ll run straight out the door all messed up. So, we’ve lost almost $5,000 in products, and that’s in dollar products.”

Clearly frustrated, she explained that when she began working at the store, there was the odd person who would try to steal items, but now it’s up to eight people a day that she must kick out of the store.

The strip mall owner where the Dollar Tree is located is working on getting more security cameras for all the businesses there, but that also takes time. There is also consideration being given to closing the store earlier, at 7 p.m.

Paladin Security does not patrol the mall across the street from the upervised consumption site.

“I am afraid for my safety,” Desroches says, looking at her feet. “Because we close at 9 p.m., It gets a little scary – especially when they’re high. There’s a few people I won’t even approach because it’s not worth risking my life.

“I just wish it was safer.”

The Grey Goat

A year-and-a-half after Becky Van Sluis moved to her location just behind Bert and Mac’s on 1 Ave. S., she too now questions how long she can keep her doors open.

She’s been in business for four years altogether, changing locations from the north side of Lethbridge. At first, business was booming. But in the last four months, she says it’s down 90 per cent.

“Since ARCHES came in, I think there’s a lot more people afraid to come to the neighborhood. There’s a lot more people hanging around. It puts people off.”

Van Sluis says she’s now struggling to pay the bills, and if nothing changes, she’ll have to throw in the towel.

“On a daily basis, we might have six people come into the store,” she says. “The girls that work here are scared. And you shouldn’t have to be scared to go to work.”

She has two staff members who feel better when the Paladin Security team checks in, and who they can call, but as a business owner, Van Sluis says neither she nor her staff should have to feel on edge all the time.

She went to one ARCHES community/business meeting but didn’t feel like her voice was heard.

“They were giving us their stats and how they were overwhelmed and everything. But basically, it was them telling their side. We voiced our concerns, and that’s when they got their clean-up crew.”

The shrubs that were once outside of the location have been cut down because there were people sleeping behind them. The back of the building has been cleared because addicts were also camping out there; there were used clothes, condoms, needles and other items that also had to be cleaned up regularly.

“At that meeting I said, why should I have to clean that up? That’s not my stuff. It makes my store look like…. you know.”

She began her business painting furniture and making signs at home, and dreamed of opening her own store, calling it her “third baby.”

Now, she’s looking for another location and hopes she can make it until her lease expires in another year-and-a-half and feels that for all the money put into the safe consumption site, business owners are being ignored.

“I can’t afford to stay here…Where’s our government grant to cover our loss of business?”

In the next year, she, along with several others tell LNN they see more businesses leaving the area.

“Why would you want to come down here? Honestly, it’s a spectacle.”

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