Moccasin Flats gated, business owners not impressed
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PRINCE GEORGE – Moccasin Flats has recently seen gates installed, and subsequently locked, by the City of Prince George, as it awaits a decision from the Supreme Court on whether or not it can shut the encampment down. However, some businesses aren’t convinced it will do much to address the ongoing crime and violence issue downtown, which has recently seen one local business owner suffer severe eye damage due to an alleged thief.
“Seeing them put up gates is just kind of another waste of taxpayer dollars, in my opinion. I saw a truck actually drive around yesterday morning — when I was on my way to work — around the gates,” said Summit Power Tools owner Steven Taylor.
“It just doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense, it’s a little temporary band-aid, that’s it. It’s like putting a lock on a door: keeps the honest people out, but people that want to get in there and dump garbage or do whatever they want to do, associate with people that are still living in there, drug dealers, etc., they’re still going to go in,” he continued.
The ongoing crime issues have continued to cause immense frustration for business owners like Taylor. He says it’s been frustrating to see so much money put into solutions to address the homeless population and crime, but says the results haven’t been there. He admits he doesn’t have all the solutions to a complex issue, but believes that police need to be given more power to prevent repeat offenders from getting back on the streets and continually harming people and businesses.
