Residents at wits’ end over alleged crack house

VA NCOU V ER • The grey and white house on Rotary Street in Chilliwack, B.C., has been a problem for years, but in the past two months crime and violence stemming from the property have escalated — and neither police nor the city are doing anything about it, say neighbours.

Those living nearby have endured brawls, yelling, suspe ct ed drug dealing and sketchy characters coming in and out at all hours.

Over a 10-hour period on April 11, video surveillance recorded 166 “visitors.” Police are called to the house regularly; syringes sometimes litter the sidewalk and lawns.

About two weeks ago, police swarmed the house, guns drawn, chasing someone, said Elizabeth Hoffmann, who lives across the street with husband Cory and their 10-month-old baby.

“It’s getting increasingly worse,” Hoffmann said. “I don’t particularly feel safe. I don’t want my baby around this.”

A growing family, the Hoffmanns are trying to sell their house, which they put up for sale 10 months ago. Three weeks ago, they received an offer. But on a second visit, the prospective buyers noticed about 10 people go in and out of the problem house within a span of 30 minutes. They checked with neighbours. Yes, they were told, it’s a crack shack.

Last Monday, they pulled their offer. Hoffmann was crushed. “We’re just fed up. Nothing is selling because of that house. It feels like we’re being held hostage,” she said.

The Hoffmanns aren’t the only ones trying to get out. Four homes immediately sur- rounding the problem house are for sale.

This isn’t the street’s first battle with a drug house. Last year, the house beside Hoffmanns’ caught fire.

Neighbours say the tenants had been cooking drugs in the kitchen. The illicit activities stopped; the house is up for sale. But then the other house stepped up its trade.

“It’s a perfectly nice neighbourhood. There’s no reason it should be crumbling in front of our eyes,” said Nicole Iezzi, who lives three homes away on Reece Avenue, which intersects Rotary.

Iezzi and her husband Rob garnered media attention last year after they posted videos on YouTube of incidents with thieves and trespassers. The crime spree, however, hasn’t stopped.

Police confirmed they have received complaints in that block of Rotary Street.

Each complaint was taken seriously and investigated thoroughly, and police “remain proactive in the area,” said Upper Fraser Valley RCMP spokesman Cpl. Mike Rail.

Residents believe police are well aware of the situation but do not have enough manpower, or the will, to deal with it.

Acknowledging that “problem houses” plague many B.C. communities, the provincial government passed the Community Safety Act in 2013.

The act was to create a new provincial unit to investigate confidential complaints of problem properties. It was to have power to levy fines and get owners to clean up their act, and to shutter a property for up to 90 days. But nearly two years later, the office isn’t yet up and running.

On a recent morning, The Province rang the doorbell at the problem home twice. No one answered the door.

The Province contacted Denvar Van Rooi, the landlord of the Rotary Street property, at his home in Mission. Van Rooi said he had heard rumours that one of the tenants was dealing drugs.

Getting rid of problem tenants isn’t easy, said Van Rooi. Police don’t want to delve into what they deem to be residential tenancy issues, while arbitrators from the Residential Tenancy Branch demand “absolute proof.”

“I can’t substantially prove anything, nor can I control it,” he said, sounding frustrated.

But Van Rooi said he sympathizes with the residents’ plight and has already asked the tenants, who are on shortterm leases, to move out. They have promised to leave in a month.

Nothing is selling

because of that house. It feels like we’re held hostage