Vandalism clean-up grant increased for downtown Nanaimo businesses

The new amendments also include using up to 50 per cent of the grant to cover the cost of installation of security and preventative measures, to a maximum of $1,000.

Year-old program
The vandalism grant program was first introduced in Oct. of 2022, initially covering a maximum of $1,000 per incident, with properties only allowed to apply twice a year.

$50,000 was marked for the first year of the five-year program, with $30,000 slotted for the next two years, with the final two years’ funding options open to debate during future budget discussions.

Gervais said they are allowed to use their discretion when it comes to applicants who are just outside of the downtown or have already reached their vandalism grant limit.

“There’s a lot of businesses that are having it happen more than once, so we want to get those broken glass and boarded up windows or anything that looks like that cleaned up as quickly as possible.”

With the program first being implemented retroactively, $10,125 in grant funding was accepted from Sept. to Dec 2022, including administrative fees.

In 2023, 25 applications were approved to the end of September, with over $25,000 in funding disbursed, with around half of the applications requesting the full amount.

A provincial vandalism relief fund was also announced was also announced in 2022, where applications as much as $2,000 per business for repair costs and $1,000 for prevention measures could be made.

Gervais said she’s not aware of any local business applying for both the City and provincial vandalism relief grants as they learn about how both grants can better benefit Nanaimo businesses.

She hopes this program helps curb vandalism so there is no need to expand the program outside of the downtown.

“We know that if we clean up vandalism quickly, it does dissuade more vandalism. That’s what we’re trying to do with the program, is make vandalism disappear if we could.”

According to the RCMP, from Jan. 1, 2022 until March 31, 2023, of the 395 reported break-in and property damage incidents, 264 occurred outside of the downtown.

Of the reported incidents of graffiti, 41 per cent were reported occurring in schools.

Council Discussion
Coun. Hilary Eastmure said she liked the addition of support for preventative measures.

“I think taking any sort of proactive step on this, I’m really in support of doing that. And I recognize several local downtown businesses have done that already and I think it’s made a difference.”

Coun. Tyler Brown struggled to support this motion because he’s concerned about what preventative measures will look like, as the City follows Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles in development approval reviews.

He said one of the things CPTED considers is not “hardening spaces” to the point they become dead zones.

“There was somebody in these chambers that said it was CPTED design that ultimately closed off a street behind the SARC (Service and Resource Centre) building and that space only got worse….that’s an extreme example, but what I’m trying to point out is, it’s very vague. We’re saying CPTED but we’re seeing security gating and things like that, that might result in a counterintuitive approach to actually making the space safer.”

He preferred City staff return with more information on what those preventative measures might look like.

The amendment passed with a 5-4 vote, with coun. Sheryl Armstrong, Erin Hemmens, Brown, and Majoy Krog voting in opposition.

Businesses looking to apply for the vandalism relief fund can find more information here at the Nanaimo Chamber’s website.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow

by Jordan Davidson

Vandalism clean-up grant increased for downtown Nanaimo businesses

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