BUSINESSES SAY CRIMINAL ACTIVITY HAS INCREASED
CHICO >> The Comanche Creek Greenway on the south end of Chico has become a haven for unsheltered people moved from various locations around the
city since the beginning of the year, in a series of enforcement operations. One side effect has been several complaints from nearby businesses, which claim criminal activity in the area is connected to the increase in campers and affects their ability
to conduct business.
While business owners did not specifically blame unsheltered individuals for increases in criminal activity, they said having a business near an area with an increase in campers has led to more contacts with suspicious
activity and cases of feeling threatened or experiencing damage to the property.
Nearby business manager Ric Powers claimed damage to his building, which he said was caused by people living in the
greenway, has led him to spend over $5,000 on window repairs, as well as losing $1,100 in stolen products. He also said people he believes are living in the area have used extension cords to use power from his building, cut holes in the business’s fence and blocked vehicles in the parking lot by sleeping by the entrance.
In his opinion, “It’s not a homeless problem, it’s a drug addict, alcohol problem.”
Powers said his major concern is that the Chico Police Department is difficult to reach for calls about possible criminal activity, and a request for comment from this newspaper to Chico Police Department public information officer Michelle Walker was not returned Tuesday.
“Week after week I don’t see police. I see them when I call them,” he said.
Powers claimed he saw an increase in campers
in the area after the city moved multiple camps from the grassy triangle area at Pine and Cypress streets in late January.
“We literally cannot afford any more damages,” Powers said.
The Commons co-owners Byron Hetherton and Jesse Grigg said their business has also experienced extensive criminal activity. Hetherton said the situation has become “significantly worse in the last
three to five months” and he has video footage of multiple incidents where people came and went from the greenway after acts of vandalism.
Along with smashed windows, stolen hoses, rope and lights and a “thrashed” mail box, he said an employee’s car was once stolen and returned by people he said were living in the park. He added staff have had to chase people away from the business who retreat back
to the greenway after asking customers to buy them beer.
“They get into our outside wash area to bathe … all kinds of crazy (stuff),” Hetherton said. “We constantly get people that are high on heroin or crank smoking on our patio at 2, 3 or 4 in the morning, all that we got on video … we’ve found used needles in the parking lot, crack pipes, people sleeping and smoking whatever.”
Hetherton added he hasn’t often called the police even when his own car was broken into and items were stolen, because he thinks police are busy elsewhere
— “It wasn’t worth dealing with the cops because I knew they weren’t going to do anything.”
“We could have opened The Commons anywhere like downtown, we could have been in Meriam Park, the north side of town,” he said. “But Jesse and I, we love this side of town the area and the history, and our roots here, and we fell in love with this spot and wanted to do what we could to spruce it up, but we feel like the city doesn’t really have our back.”
Lovely Layers Cakery owner Emily Zimmerman had not experienced the same types of suspicious activity. But she said within the last month to two months, she has witnessed more people in the area, sometimes using her business’s outside picnic tables for internet access or using the dumpster or public restrooms.
Once, she said a woman who could be experiencing mental health issues bought a muffin and stood outside the business talking to herself, and at least one customer said they were afraid to come in the building. She said she thinks people with these issues could deter customers from entering her business.
However, Chico Chamber of Commerce President Katy Thoma said while she’s observed an increase in campers at the greenway, her office hadn’t heard any specific official reports from businesses in the area about increased criminal activity. She claimed there has been an increase in suspicious activity downtown in proximity to the chambers office.