WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Some Downtown Wilmington business owners want city leaders to do something about homeless people driving customers away from their establishments.
Chap Wallace has owned Port City Cheesesteak for almost a decade.
His restaurant sits on Front Street and receives a lot of foot traffic.
“We see a ton of people coming and going at different times of the year, all through the year,” says Wallace.
Wallace says in recent years, he has seen an increase of homeless population.
He believes it’s not the entire population that is creating a disturbance, but some are causing potential customers to pivot from the area.
“People who have frequent our establishments for years, we hear feedback from them,” said Wallace. ” A lot of the times they don’t want to come down here due to feeling unsafe, being harassed, and genuinely uncleanliness.”
Wallace shares that he and other owners have seen people laying in front of their doors, aggressively panhandling, and relieving themselves on the sidewalk near the building.
“We all had to personally or have employees who unfortunately had to clean up human waste,” said Wallace.
He tries to arrive ahead of opening hours to make sure the exterior looks neat and presentable.
Wallace was at Wilmington City Council’s meeting Tuesday night and expressed these concerns to members.
Business owner Joe Apcarryon, who owns The Pour House, Tacobaby, and The Eagles Dare also agreed that there is a problem and made it known to leaders at the meeting.
They want them to take action now whether they think a recent ordinance will help or not.
Council member Luke Waddell introduced an ordinance that would keep people from sleeping on city property from 10:00 pm until 7:00 am.
Mayor Bill Saffo made a motion to table the ordinance.
He along with other council members want to further discuss all options.
The vote to table it was 5-2, with Waddell and Charlie Rivenbark opposed.
Mayor Saffo says there are already ordinances in place that just need to be enforced.
“I think there was some concern from some business owners that we have no ordinances in place be we have a litany of ordinances in place,” Saffo explains. “I think we’ve made it very clear we need to move these folks out of the way if they are violating any part of our ordinance.”
Saffo says compassion is at the top of his mind and wants to make sure they’re offered mental health resources before alternative action.
“The last thing we need want to do is arrest them and criminalize this, but I think at some point in time if we have to take drastic action we will. That’s the last resort police officers will use is to take drastic action, we’ll ask them to move along or take them to get services if necessary,” said Saffo.
In the meantime, he wants the council to work with others to find the necessary resources to bring change for the homelessness population.
He says there is not enough room in shelters or mental facilities.
The council will discuss the ordinance again at their first meeting in September.
Saffo hopes to have explanations on where money is being spent to solve the problem and what police officers can do to help.
Wallace said he realizes solving the homeless issue will take a lot of work.
“I understand where council comes from on these issues and they are limited in the scope on what they can do,” said Wallace.
He just hopes leaders find a solution that allows customers to visit his business without worrying about their safety.
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