UNDER SIEGE
Residents of a Gastown apartment say they run a gauntlet of insults and worse from homeless people camped outside their building when they try to enter
Residents in the 30 apartment units at 18 West Hastings St. have resorted to getting in and out of their building via the back alley because, over the past few months, more people have been sitting and sleeping in front of the entrance and aggressively blocking anyone who tries to pass.
Jon Stovell of Reliance Properties, which owns the six-storey rental, city-designated heritage building, describes the situation not only as a fire hazard because the front door can be jammed shut, but also as becoming “extremely hostile” with residents and the building manager facing swearing and spitting as well as fearing assault.
“They just tell them to f--off,” said Stovell. “They’ve been going to the back to get in and out because (sometimes) they can’t open the door.”
He tweeted photos of the building at 18 West Hastings St. and others, including images of spit on an entry phone and feces on the street, and likened the dynamics to the ones in Strathcona where young families feel unsafe and at risk because of drug use and addiction in the homeless camp at the park.
“We’ve got younger firsttime renters or others who are forming households, and young women who like living without a roommate,” Stovell said of the tenants who pay rent ranging from $1,700 a month to $2,500.
There had been a specialty beer pub and patio on the ground floor, which has now closed.
Stovell has approached the city. “They say, ‘What do you want us to do? What should we do?’” said Stovell, who has long operated in the area, with an office based in Gastown as well as owning and managing several properties in the Downtown Eastside.
With the fentanyl overdose crisis, “all the emergency resources are now dedicated to keeping people alive,” said Stovell.
There had already been a
“wildly permissive” environment, said Stovell, when the pandemic required physical distancing that worsened homelessness by eliminating options such as couch-surfing or doubling up to share accommodations.
“The SRO hotels clamped down and there were more people on the street. It’s been a super cascade of events that has caused this to blow up,” said Stovell.
By mid-morning Wednesday, Vancouver police officers chaperoned while city crews arrived with pitchforks to clean up the mess and garbage on the 100-block of West Hastings. A city water truck cleaned the street while building caretakers hosed down the sidewalk areas and alleys.
“Every morning there are people sleeping in the doorways, there’s garbage all over, every day,” said Ning Quon, the maintenance man at a mixed commercial-residential building across the street from the Burns Block.
“Human waste? You mean poop? Yes, I have to clean that away every day,” Quon said. “It’s just gotten worse and worse since (the pandemic) started.”
Potluck Catering, located next to Stovell’s building, does not cater to the public so there are no off-the-street customers to be inconvenienced.
“The squatters, the sewage, the garbage — they’re highly annoying,” said Ian Thompson, as he and three others got the catering restaurant ready to open for the day. “But it hasn’t really affected (operations) at this time.”
Wally Wargolet, a board member of the Gastown Business Improvement Association, said property crimes such as break-and-enter and vandalism has actually declined in Gastown since the beginning of the pandemic, even as those crimes have spread elsewhere.
“To blame the city for this is a bit unfair,” Wargolet said. “It is a provincial and federal housing issue. We’re seeing complete mismanagement from B.C. Housing and the people they have been working with for the past few decades.
“It’s time for a new approach.”
A city spokeswoman urged people to phone 3-1-1 if they find themselves unable to enter their building because of squatters.
“Homelessness has been more visible for the past few months,” said Ashton Patis, manager of communications at city hall.
“The impact of COVID-19 and no-guest policies in nonprofit housing has meant that people experiencing homelessness across Vancouver have fewer places to go during the day and overnight, meaning that they have little respite from living outside.”