Drug house that police visited 39 times in 2 years shut down again

A Calgary bungalow that police have visited 39 times in two years has been boarded up and the owner ordered to get pre-approval from sheriffs' for five years before inviting over any guests or tenants.

The property owner faces some of the strictest conditions imposed since the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit was created in 2008, Alberta Justice said in a release issued Tuesday.

Investigators sought the five-year term in part because the property owner violated conditions of a previous community safety order from October 2018.

The house at 2000 Cottonwood Cr. SE has been an ongoingsource of drug activity and problems for residents of the community of Southview, the province said in the release.

The SCANunit obtained a community safety order from the Court of Queen's Bench that let them shut downthe house for 90 days and impose strict conditions on the property's use for the next five years.

"The legal action is aimed at breaking a cycle of criminal activity at the property that has been ongoing for several years," the province said.

"Over the past two years, Calgary police have responded to 39 incidents at the property, including a fatal drug overdose in January 2018 and an assault in August 2019 that involved two men beating a resident of the house with a baseball bat and a ball-peen hammer."

On Tuesday, sheriffs boarded up the house, changed the locks and fenced it off and it wasn't the first time.

The house was shuttered last October for the same reasons.

SCAN began the latest investigation in March 2019 upon receiving complaints that drug activity had resumed after the property was returned to the owner in January.

Beyond the 90-day closure, which ends Dec. 16, the owner can't have visitors or tenants for five years without the pre-approval of investigators.

TheSafer Communities and Neighbourhoods Actgivessheriffsthe authority to target problem properties through civil enforcement.

Since its creation, the SCAN unit has issued nearly 80 community safety orders, the province says.