Langley City Mayor Ted Schaffer is looking forward to a better, healthier future for the community he has called home for more than 30 years.
That’s why he created the Crime Prevention Task Force to “get ahead of problems,” he said in a recent interview.
“I’m very much trying to be proactive. Yes, there are issues here, but they aren’t all bad and this task force shows we are wanting to deal with them,” said Schaffer.
Many small merchants and big businesses have invested in the community and want to stay in Langley City for a long time, said Schaffer. He wants those businesses to flourish.
“I really care about my community. I’m not in this for any other reason,” he said.
Greg Perkins, a former police officer in Ontario who is now an expert in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), took the newly-formed task force on a tour of hot spots and problem areas in the downtown core several weeks ago.
Already, since the last meeting, changes are happening for the better, Schaffer pointed out.
TransLink has been busy installing brighter lighting at the bus loop, as requested by the City.
Transit Police will continue to check the loop and put security there.
Schaffer said he is setting up another meeting with the owners of the adjoining Rainbow Mall attached to the bus loop.
“I want to talk to them about what direction are they going and how can the City help them get there,” he said.
Terry Causton, owner of the iconic Choo Choos Restaurant, said he’s very pleased with how proactive the City has been. His restaurant is geared to families and he is hearing nothing but positives from his customers about coming to visit the one-way section of Fraser Highway.
“I see it looking better down here. We want people to know it’s a safe and great place to visit,” said Causton. “It’s nice to see new businesses on the one-way succeeding.”
He said he is aware that homeless people have been more visible as of late, but said the City has been working on it, and it’s already much better than it was three months ago.
“The City is doing everything it can. The BIA is very responsive if issues arise,” said Causton, who lives downtown and can walk to work every day.
Anne Aliott has been running her busy My Thai restaurant in Langley for 24 years, and moved top the one-way area several years ago. With a steady stream of lunch and dinner customers, she is happy to stay right where she is.
She suggests that even more customers would shop and eat downtown if there was more parking. That is an ongoing issue, just as important as the presence of homeless people.
She has had to call bylaw officers and police on several occasions to move them along, after they have stayed the night at her back door.
“I phoned the mayor about it and he came down to see me right away,” said Aliott. “He asked what can we do to help? So he is working on how a fence or something can be built there.”
Schaffer stresses that change isn’t going to happen right away.
“This is going to take a lot of time and effort. Nowadays, people expect change right away and that’s just not possible,” he said.
Two members of the Langley RCMP who work in the City sit on the task force.
“The RCMP realize changes should be made to how they manage the downtown. They are putting a full-time officer in charge based out the City Community Police Office. We will have officers walking the beat as they do in larger metropolitan cities,” he said.
While sometimes it is difficult to publicly acknowledge that a City has social challenges as well as a criminal element, it was important to do so, said Schaffer.
“This has opened up dialogue between the City, police, TransLink, merchants, social and faith services and health providers.
“The City staff don’t have their heads in the sand. It’s not a major tsunami of problems out there but we do have some issues,” said Schaffer.
One of those visual issues is the number of homeless people pushing shopping carts and setting up little tent-cities around town.
Schaffer is looking forward to the formation of the homelessness committee. The City is currently looking to hire a consultant to navigate the proper mental health channels to see what can be done for a lot of these people. Many of them need support.
It’s a complex issue with no easy answers, he said. Schaffer said many who call the streets home and push around a shopping cart are suffering from mental illness and/or drug addiction.
“I’ve talked to many of them and for the most part, they just want to be left alone. The way they look doesn’t always indicate they are a danger,” he said.
Perkins pointed to the bus loop as having no connection to the businesses around it. He also pointed out all the social services concentrated in a two-block radius near the bus loop on Logan Avenue. Perkins also said fringe businesses can set a tone, as can be seen around 7-Eleven, at 203 Street and 56 Avenue. It is the only 24-hour business in town and has faced challenges of drug dealing, loitering and prostitution outside its doors for more than a decade.
Perkins was back to speak to the task force about ideas and suggestions he has to improve problem areas through CPTED. One tried and true CPTED concept is the ‘broken window theory’ that suggests that keeping the streets clean of garbage, graffiti and vandalism reduces other more serious crimes, just by providing a perceptual eye of order in the community.
To that suggestion, Schaffer wants churches who hand out clothing to the homeless to start putting out bins for the old clothing to go in. The problem of discarded clothing all over the downtown is significant and unsightly, he said.
The City has also promised to look at the 13 pharmacies that have opened up in the downtown core. Numerous pharmacies have opened in recent years. The City would like the Township to adopt a similar bylaw, so there will be a limit on the number of outlets for methadone.
The Times will continue to update the public on the progress being made in Langley City.
This article is a second in a series focusing on the challenges and the progress being made in Langley City’s business district.
The first article in the series can be accessed here.