Business group calls for immediate action to save downtown, including bigger police presence

The Downtown Victoria Business Association is calling on all levels of government to take immediate action to save downtown.

Jeff Bray, chief executive of the business improvement association, said a recent membership survey and annual report on the state of the core paints a grim picture of an area teetering on the brink.

“It’s not dying, but it can’t sustain itself without some significant and bold action,” he said. “If we see some of that, then I think the trend lines can start to move around. But if we’re having this conversation a year from now and nothing significant has happened, the question of that answer may be different.”

Bray made the comments during the unveiling of the DVBA’s sixth annual report on downtown, which looks at the economic vibrancy of the core, including feedback from a membership survey.

This year, more than a third of the DVBA’s 1,800 members responded, which Bray suggests shows members are increasingly concerned about the state of downtown.

He said he hopes the report will be a wake-up call for all levels of government. “Businesses are in a difficult situation and are no longer able to wait for long-term solutions, long-term actions.”

Bray says the top priority is to significantly reduce street disorder, including open drug use, camping in doorways and on sidewalks and repeat criminal activity.

From the city, the group wants to see a bigger police presence, bylaws being enforced, and an end to people camping on streets, which makes it not only feel unsafe, but difficult to navigate.

From the province, the DVBA is calling for an expansion of mental-health and addictions services, including mandatory care where appropriate. Bray said until there are permanent facilities, there need to be temporary solutions like treatment facilities in portable trailers.

“We’ve had no problem educating our children in portables. We’ve had no problem putting our children in portables for daycare. We should have no problem providing proper health care, drug and mental-health treatment using those same trailers,” he said.

The DVBA would also like to see the criminal justice system beefed up with increased staffing for Crown prosecutors, sheriffs, court services, and jail/remand facilities.

From Ottawa, Bray is calling for reform to bail legislation that would allow for the pretrial detention of repeat offenders charged with theft, violence, drug-related offences and vandalism, which he said could significantly reduce street disorder in Victoria.

Keith Johnson, one of the owners of Oh Sugar candy store at 561 Johnson St., said something has got to give.

“From a business perspective, we definitely see that it doesn’t necessarily make financial sense to keep operating in the downtown core with just so much [negative] activity happening,” he said. “The city, the provincial government, federal government need to step up and take some ownership of what’s happening, make some changes that will give some positivity back to the core.”

At Oh Sugar, they have had to adjust business hours and staffing levels and move more business online to deal with the disorder downtown, he said.

Johnson said they haven’t hired security, instead opting not to intervene when someone unruly comes into the store. They also no longer fill out police reports for shoplifting, since police have enough on their hands already.

Oh Sugar is not alone.

Bray said the most alarming thing about this year’s report is that 48 per cent of businesses said they would not renew their leases based on current conditions downtown. “Nearly half of our businesses would consider closing if they were not tied to their lease.”

In the survey, 11% of businesses gave the downtown a failing grade and 39% reported that their economic performance declined over the last year, while 27% said things had improved.

The report also found retail vacancy downtown had increased to 11% from 3% since 2019 and office vacancy jumped to 10.7% from 4.7% in the same period.

Bray said almost all measurables, from economic performance to how safe anyone feels, are trending negatively.

“This has been building up for years. And this is why our businesses are saying they need action now,” he said, noting the situation has forced the DVBA to switch its focus to an advocacy role from a marketing one. “We actually need the change to happen or the marketing won’t matter anymore.”

Bray said patience with government has worn thin, and members intend to keep up the pressure until something gets done.

Even a commitment to provide 20 more police officers as beat cops would be enough for some business owners to say they will stay where they are, he said, adding without bold action this year, downtown risks a wave of closures and job losses.

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