2 more Bridgeland homes declared derelict as residents' safety concerns persist

Three homes along McDougall Road in the inner-city Calgary community of Bridgeland-Riverside have now been boarded up and fenced off as residents continue to work with the city to combat crime and graffiti concerns in the area.

At a community meeting Tuesday night, police, bylaw and city officials reassured the more than 65 residents in attendance that they're doing all they can to shut down properties that have become central to drug use, property crime and vandalism.

Last month, two fires occurred at 723 McDougall Road N.E. The home had recently been declared unfit for human habitation for a host of reasons, includingunsafe sleeping conditions, clogged plumbing, and holes in the walls, ceiling and windows.

Two more homes along the same road, owned by other people,were also recently fenced off, said Acting Staff Sgt. David McMath.

"There was a lot of stolen property travelling through both of those buildings," McMath said. "Itmostly relates to car prowlings, petty theft from open garages, to breaking into the garages themselves."

McMath called them "crimes of opportunity for quick cash" in order to support a drug habit.

At 723 McDougall Road, where the fires occurred, police found there were multiple people staying in the residence, even after they'd been evicted early in 2017.

"There were a whole bunch of transient folks that were living there and that created a great deal of problems for us," McMath said.

'Beyond our control'

That house has caused some big problems for Darren Chan, too. As the property manager of that residence, Chan said there's only so much he's been able to do to combat the break-and-enters and activity at the house.

"There were numerous parties that kept breaking into the house and I couldn't rent it out before that in order to deter criminal activities, especially property crimes," Chan said.

"The property has been broken into multiple times and it was a huge headache."

Residents have previously criticized those responsible for the building, with one going so far as to call it a "slumlord" situation.

Chan disagreed.

"It's just the location of this specific area," he said. "It's very close to the homeless shelter and so there's homeless people coming in and out. In terms of that individual house, we tried to board it up, but ... the second you do board it up, it's like a welcoming invitation for people knowing that it's already abandoned."

The person who owns 723 owns three other lots on the same street. Chan says Alberta Health Services declared those homes safe, but he saysthey're not in good shape, either.

"The owner is reluctant to spend the additional money in order to fix up these properties which were already bad to begin with," he said. "They're very, very old, they haven't been maintained even from the previous owners of these properties."

Chan said the owner plans to demolish the homes on the four lots he owns by the end of the year to make way for an 18- to 21-suite apartment complex. However, McMath said the house at 723 must be torn down by the beginning of June.

Graffiti concerns

Around the same time the fires at 723 occurred, graffiti containing the words "Dope House Burners," "D.H.B.," and "Burn Next" started appearing on buildings in the neighbourhood.

Const. Lloyd Elliot with the joint graffiti investigation team has been looking into the vandalism, but says his unit has been unable to match the graffiti with any known offenders.

"Infact there's not really been any tags put on the buildings, they're really more of a scribbled message," Elliot said.

There's no direct link yet between the fires and the graffiti, he added.

Community solutions

At the safety meeting on Tuesday, attendees were asked to brainstorm ways to create a safer, more appealing community.

Residents presented a range of ideas including "adopt a spot," similar to the Adopt a Park program where certain people would ensure an area in the community stays clean and taken care of. Others suggested regular walks or patrols through the neighbourhood, as well as increasing the visual appeal of public green spaces.

The level of engagement didn't surprise community association president Carmon Blacklock.

"This is a typical response from the community," he said. "It's really good to see a lot of people come out and share their ideas and try to work together and get rid of some of these issues that we're seeing."

"Bridgeland-Riverside is a community in transition," Blacklock added."There's a lot of development going on, so there's been a lot of activity."

The community involvement is a significant help for police, too.

"We do count on neighbours to let us know what's going on and to report whenever these boarded up houses are breached," saidConst. Glen Pedersen, the communityresource officer for the area.

"This isn't a problem that's going to go away anytime quickly," he added."These individuals have been fuelled by drug addiction and this is something the city's going to be dealing with for a very long time."

The city is scheduled to meet with the property owner on Wednesday afternoon.

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