Photo: Colin Dacre

1649 Pandosy Street

A woman who works in downtown Kelowna says she has stopped calling for help after years of dealing with crime, threats and public indecency.

Michelle Denero says she has worked at the Blue Gator on Lawrence Avenue for almost nine years. She says things have never been as bad as they are now.

Denero said she recently asked a pair of men using drugs next to their building to leave.

"I usually ask very politely, 'Excuse me, we really appreciate no one in our parking lot while we're open for business. I need you to leave, please,'" she said, explaining that one of the men "jumped up and said, 'Yep, thanks for asking so nicely, we'll get right out of here.'"

Denero said the second man, however, looked at her, "put his thumb up to his ear, and said, 'I'm going to slit your f***ing throat from ear to ear.'"

"I stood back for a moment, making sure that that's what I heard," she said.

While she eventually reported the threat to the police, she did not plan to at first, as she's seen little come of previous reports.

"We're so used to getting yelled at, having things said to us, cleaning vomit. All that stuff that I didn't even phone."

Denero says she and the owner of the Blue Gator, Larry Smith, have been calling and writing letters to the mayor and council about the situation for some time now. But she says things have gotten much worse since the Downtown Urban Outreach center opened at 1649 Pandosy Street in May 2021. The center includes a safe consumption drug site.

"Bylaw has definitely been trying their best. They're there every morning trying to clear the lane because we were getting quite a build-up in the lane; our delivery trucks were unable to get through," Denero said.

"The situation is awful," she said.

"I was drawing on the chalkboard on the front of our building to display who is playing for the week, and I had a gentleman continuously tell me to f**k off."

In February, a nearby business owner launched a survey of businesses in the area to gain feedback on the state of the neighborhood.

Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas tells Castanet he is aware of the situation and recent survey.

"I think the survey that they put together was excellent. I read it, I have a copy of it, I went through it. And I am meeting with them [Tuesday]. I thought it was done very well," Dyas said.

He said he plans on having the council establish a crime and safety task force.

"It will be going through to the council, and I assume they would approve it because it was one of our main priorities. On that crime and safety task force, there will be members of the community."

"What is being done right now, as we all know, really isn't working. So we need to explore other options."

Denero says neither she nor the Blue Gator ownership were part of the meeting Dyas referenced, but she expressed cautious optimism that the situation isn't being ignored.

"I just feel that someone's gonna get hurt, the safety and the biohazard that is happening in this area, someone's gonna get hurt," she said.

"We've had people come in and ask if it's safe for them to even come to our club on Friday or Saturday night."

Denero says she understands the need for the safe consumption site, but she doesn't understand why more isn't being done to keep the area around it safe.

"My message is it needs to have security or a monitor. People should not be allowed to stay in that area for our safety. Or it's got to be moved. It's just unfair," said Denero.