A neighbourhood meeting has ramped up the pressure on a Davey Drive property owner to address persistent safety concerns raised by frustrated local residents.
For years, Cedar Island neighbourhood residents have pointed to the former Silver Swan Villa Motel property at 114 Davey Dr. as being the primary source of drug-related crime in the area.
On June 19, 2019, 45-year-old Tracy Reid was found injured outside the Silver Swan Villa. She suffered multiple blunt injuries to her face, head, neck, torso and extremities and was later pronounced dead in hospital.
Robert Sampson, 59, has been accused of committed first-degree murder by sexually assaulting and beating Reid to death. Sampson has spent the past three-and-a-half years in jail awaiting trial.
On Wednesday afternoon, Orillia OPP officers responded to reports of a gunshot in the area of Davey Drive. The OPP's emergency response team, canine unit, forensic identification services, helicopter, and scene of crime officer responded to search the area. A firearm and a magazine were recovered, police say. As a result of the investigation, two people are facing multiple charges.
“As precaution the police went in and checked all of our units,” explained long-time property, Michael Preston. “They didn’t arrest anybody, they didn’t say they found any drugs, and there was no weapons found on the property.”
When Orillia Mayor Don McIsaac was campaigning to become Orillia’s top elected official last fall, he heard a lot about the troubled history at Davey Drive when door-knocking.
“The issues generally seem to be theft of property, drug use, drug sales, and safety and security,” he said. “People just don’t feel safe.”
McIsaac says he has met individually with Preston about his business and the clientele it’s attracting. He’s also met with Orillia OPP Inspector Coyer Yateman, municipal bylaw officers, Orillia Fire Chief Michael Clark, and concerned residents.
“Yesterday was our third public meeting and the first where Mike Preston was there with all the other constituents,” he said.
McIsaac says people have a right to feel safe in their neighbourhood.
“Mr. Preston has volunteered to make some changes,” the mayor said.
Preston says he will install more cameras on his property through the Security Camera Registry and Mapping crime prevention program.
“We have 21 people who are good tenants down there and another two who are problem people,” he said. “One is on her way out with a sheriff's order.”
Preston says one of the residents he’s working on evicting from his property has been seen sleeping outside of her unit, saying she's essentially 'squatting.' He admits he is aware that she is abusing drugs.
“All we can do is report the incident, write it down, send it to the landlord-tenant board, and say it’s disturbing the peace and enjoyment of our immediate neighbours,” Preston told OrilliaMatters on Friday.
“We don’t want these people to lose their home, but we’ve repeatedly warned these people to not let whatever they do in their home to spill outside and into the community and affect their neighbours," Preston said.
The mayor said he plans to bring the idea of developing nuisance bylaws to a future council meeting, noting they could be used to help improve the situation.
“It will require an owner to keep a property not only clean and clear, but to keep it safe,” he added.
McIsaac says city staff will do research on other communities to see how they use their bylaw to keep similar properties safe. They will also work with Orillia OPP and surrounding residents to gather information and suggestions for the best solution.
Once the city has gathered more information, McIsaac says there will be more public meetings scheduled to discuss a plan for moving forward.
Preston says sometimes the laws make it hard for him to evict troubled residents.
“There is a $250,000 fine if you push somebody out of their house when you don’t have the right to,” he said.
“There are no facilities for these people to go to,” he added while noting that local homeless shelters are at full capacity.
Frank Allinson, a Cedar Island resident of four years, says things have gotten so bad at the Davey Drive property that neighbours who live close by are afraid to leave their homes.
“The real problem there seems to be the transients in addition to some of the people who are renting from Preston," said Allinson.
Allinson claims there are a lot of drug deals going down at the property and there is frequently a police presence on site. He even suspects the Davey Drive property could be the hub of prostitution.
“There is at least one hooker working out of there or around there,” he claims. “A couple of neighbours of ours were propositioned one morning when we were off to a meeting with the city about a month and a half ago.”
Allinson says the people who are causing the problems in the neighbourhood seem to be able to go about their business without any kind of repercussions.
“The police come down here, pick up some guy for whatever he’s doing, they pick him up, they take him back to the office, they book him, and then they have to release him,” he explained. “Two days later they pick up the same guy for the same offence.”
Mel, who preferred not to provide OrilliaMatters with her last name, has lived near 114 Davey Dr. for over five years. She is hopeful that change will come out of Thursday’s meeting, but she is not optimistic.
“This has been going on for so many years,” she said. “I don’t believe at all that Preston will do anything for security. We had a neighbourhood security camera aimed at the Swan and his direct response to that was to build a nine-foot fence.”
Mel says she’s been told by OPP to keep her doors and windows locked at all hours because it’s not safe living near the former motel. She’s even been threatened by a man who was detained by police while carrying a knife.
“I have 14 security cameras on and inside my house,” she said. “This has seriously impacted my ability to feel comfortable and safe.”
Preston says he plans to be a part of the solution and calls for everybody in the neighbourhood to report suspicious behaviour.
“Some people want to point fingers, but I think just if everybody is on guard and reporting these people we are going to be able to clean up that end of the town.”
-- With files from Marg. Bruineman
