Saskatoon business leaders to address police board about crime and safety concerns

Two Saskatoon business leaders are appearing before the city’s police board on Thursday to address their growing concerns about crime and community safety.

Two Saskatoon business leaders are appearing before the city’s police board on Thursday to address their growing concerns about crime and community safety.

Randy Pshebylo, the director of the Riversdale Business Improvement District, has asked to speak to the board about “the deplorable conditions in the 1500 block of 20th Street West.”

In his request to speak, Pshebylo writes about the “degradation of the 20th Street West commercial corridor,” which he says has created “unsafe conditions for employees, customers and patients needing to access businesses here.”

As one of the most visible regular sites of local homeless encampments, that small stretch of Pleasant Hill has generated significant discussion in recent years as a focal point for the growing humanitarian crisis in the city.

In December, the St. Mary’s Affinity Credit Union announced its impending closure due to increasing safety concerns and a “change in the makeup of the neighbourhood.”

“The needs of the community have clearly changed,” Affinity CEO Mark Lane told CTV News at the time.

Affinity’s St. Mary’s branch had operated there for 75 years.