Pubdate: Tue, 12 Jun 2012
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Nanaimo Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608

BYLAW CANNOT TACKLE COMPLEX SOCIAL ISSUES

The city's nuisance bylaw is not a silver bullet. Although we've seen
the legislation help motivate some landowners to make positive
changes, other properties will continue to be hotspots for crime even
if the landowners are billed whenever police are called. That doesn't
mean the nuisance bylaw is ineffective; in fact, we believe this law
plays an important role in helping ensure landlords live up to their
responsibilities in the community.

But we cannot expect a single law to tackle the complex social
problems surrounding crime and addiction in Nanaimo's south end.

The city slapped a nuisance designation on the Newport apartments,
located on Haliburton street, earlier this year after police received
almost 50 calls about the apartment building during the past two
years. Residents have complained about break-ins and garbage and drug
needles tossed out of windows onto sidewalks below.

At the time, the manager at the Newport claimed the property was being
unfairly targeted by the city and said that efforts were being made to
clean the place up.

Unfortunately, little appears to have changed during the past few
months. In May, police were called to the Newport on 19 occasions.
Going back to last fall, that's second only to January when they
responded to the site 20 times.

There have already been seven calls for service to the building so far
this month, on track to beat recent records. And once again, the
Newport's manager insists the problems are being addressed.

Of course, these type of issues aren't restricted only to the Newport.
Calls to the general area of Haliburton and Needham streets are also
consistently high, with several residential problem properties
contributing to problems, but the "nuisance" title only pertains to
Newport building itself.

The city says Nanaimo sees several properties a year declared as
nuisances and all of them eventually make their way off the list.

The Value Lodge motel on Nicol Street had "hundreds" of visits from
RCMP, prompting city council to label it a nuisance property in
December 2009 and give it a bill of nearly $5,000 for police services.
It worked itself off the list of nuisance properties in April.

A new manager and an aggressive plan to remove "problem tenants"
resulted in the Value Lodge improving its image.

People have argued that this bylaw helped to break up the problem,
scattering it across the city rather having it remain in a single,
concentrated location. This makes dealing with the problems more
manageable, authorities say.

The nuisance bylaw certainly can help problem properties turn things
around, but it doesn't address the root causes of these issues. We
sympathize with the neighbours and members of the South End Community
Association, who say that open drug dealing and prostitution has
eroded the safety of the community.

Nanaimo's south end is a unique neighbourhood that is full of
potential. However, it will never shed its unsavoury image until more
resources are dedicated to tackling the social issues in the
community. No single bylaw can do that. Only a co-ordinated
combination of law enforcement, social programs and community
involvement will make a dent in this ongoing problem.

A better solution is needed to deal with the ongoing crime
concentrated in the south end. We owe it our community.
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MAP posted-by: Matt