‘I don’t think we have a homeless problem — we have a drug problem here,’ says Steve Ricalis; public meeting taking place today at city hall to discuss changes to zoning bylaw
The head of the Downtown Barrie BIA says he fully supports the city’s efforts to curb illegal drug shops, as well as open drug use, which are a problem across the downtown core.
Steve Ricalis is also the owner of Donaleigh’s Irish Public House and the Dunlop Street Diner, so he sees things up close.
“Illegal shops are not paying taxes and they are already illegal, so I understand why the mayor would love to get them closed, because all they’re doing is providing an illegal service,” Ricalis told BarrieToday on Wednesday.
“I don’t think we have a homeless problem – we have a drug problem here. And I think that the new facilities that they’re opening up, the HART Hubs, will be beneficial. I think those are the way to go,” he added.
As far as the Busby Centre and the Trinity Anglican Church on Collier Street, Ricalis says he is not convinced they help in the long run.
“I think it’s just a place to crash and get drugs and get something to eat,” he said of some of the people who use their services.
Sara Peddle, the Busby Centre’s executive director, recently told BarrieToday that they’re just trying to figure out how to get the support for people as much as they can.
“Everyone’s going to have their different perspective on what that looks like and what it should look like for people,” she said. “We’re here to just make sure that we can support people to get the support that they need, connect with the different resources, and we want to make sure that people are safe and the community is safe.
“We’re trying to do our best with the whole community on this and just make sure that people have access to things,” Peddle added. “For us, it’s just making sure that we’re remaining compassionate and person-centred, and that these are individuals that are really struggling and really need a community to support. We’re here to be part of that community.”
A public meeting will be held later today at Barrie City Hall on proposed changes to clarify and expand Barrie’s zoning bylaw to disqualify illegal uses, such as drugs, in retail areas, including the downtown. Shops selling illegal magic mushrooms, for example, have been closed down in recent weeks, only to reopen either in the same location or somewhere else nearby.
Working at his businesses downtown, Ricalis says he has been victimized by crime which he believes is related to drug addiction.
“My car’s been broken into three times, and the same with my staff,” he said. “Just harassment at work, constant misbehaving and lawlessness, and it’s killed the downtown quite a bit, I think.”
All of these troubles combine to deter visitors to the downtown who would be spending money and adding to the local economy, Ricalis says.
“People are hesitating,” he said. “They’re hesitating to come downtown. So that’s the part that sucks, because we have so much to offer here. Everybody down here, we live and breathe and create and are part of the community down here … we really need the support of the community to come and take advantage of the downtown.”
Ricalis hopes the city and the police keep doing what they’re doing as far as patrols and enforcement of illegal shops.
“They just have to go in and raid it and close it,” he said.
Ricalis wants building owners and landlords to also be held responsible after shops continue to pop back up again after being shut down.
“You punish the landlord. You’re collecting drug money, illegal money,” he added. “So why are you collecting it?”
Ricalis also says if someone is doing drugs out in the open, they need to be taken to jail.
“You’re going to have some bleeding hearts that say that, ‘Well, you can’t do that.’ Well, they’ve taken our (downtown). I pay taxes. Everybody around here pays taxes and they’re taking our livelihood away from us, because people won’t come down here anymore. And I don’t think that’s fair,” he said.
“I’m constantly kicking people out of my restaurant,” Ricalis added. “I have to stand at the door and say, ‘No, you’re not walking in here, I’m sorry, because you were going to do drugs in my bathroom.'”
Ricalis says there are two pharmacies on Dunlop Street West that offer services, such as dispensing methadone, to help treat addicts, which is a magnet for keeping the drug users in the immediate area.
“That’s where the heart of facilities (such as the HART Hub), I think, are going to be great,” he said. “That’s where you have to go to get healthier. I truly believe that, and I believe those places, even if you look outside those places, they look like a facility. You look outside of the Busby, and it’s 30 people sitting outside doing drugs. That is not a facility.”
Meanwhile, Ricalis noted there are some “great things” coming to downtown Barrie in the near future, which would help, as he cited the planned performing arts centre and the new baseball stadium which has been hinted at for Queen’s Park.
“These things are going to change this whole structure down here,” he said.
Ricalis says for all downtown businesses to thrive, they need community support — immediately.
“It’s the shopping and restaurants – and don’t be afraid,” he said. “There’s nothing to be afraid of down here.”
He suspects the stabbing near the Five Points last Friday morning was drug-related.
Ricalis noted large public events downtown, such as the Troubadour Festival happening this weekend, will bring 35,000 people here on Saturday, while the popular Butter Tart Festival should also attract up to around 35,000 people, he estimates.
“The BIA is doing things like that to try and rejuvenate the downtown that way,” he said.
