SPOKANE, Wash. — Times are tough for many local businesses, but one Hillyard restaurant was at a point of breaking after they say they were repeated targets of vandalism and theft.
“I just cry…a lot,” Julie Kloth said.
The Kloths purchased their restaurant Bulldogs Famous BBQ & Brews almost two years ago. Initially, it felt like a dream come true.
“My husband and I have bulldogs,” Kloth said. “That’s where bulldogs came from.”
She says business was steady until summer hit.
“There’s a camp here and a camp here,” Kloth said. “We were fine before they moved in. No problems.”
The ‘they’ she refers to is a group taking shelter in trailers, vehicles and tents on both public and private property across her restaurant.
“In and out every day, there’s 30 total,” she said. “They are building their camps, they are on the sidewalk. Next to the street. Next to the signs. They are not even trying to go out of vision.”
And she says diners took notice.
“My customers tell me, I can’t come there,” Kloth said. “You have so many homeless people I don’t want to park my car there.”
In addition to the drop in customers, Kloth said they were dealing with frequent theft and vandalism.
“The neighbor caught them cutting the barbed wire from my fence here,” Kloth said. “He called crime check.”
Kloth too had them on speed dial. She said she was calling daily, sometimes multiple times.
“We have just been on them so hard,” she said.
But Kloth alleges things only continued to get worse. The day before our first interview with Kloth, one of their windows was shattered by a rock. The weeks prior, she says they were victims of a bold power theft.
“Our bill tripled so we just started looking around,” Kloth said.
They found a power cord that had been concealed.
“They dug a trench from the property along my driveway…along my fence…cut a trench…buried cord in it and plugged into my building,” Kloth said.
An Avista chart of their usage shows the spike during the theft, which Kloth says came with a hefty bill.
“We did a bunch of big sales and tried to let people know what was happening,” Koth said. “I thought Friday, we’d be shut down by Avista. We made $138 more than needed to pay our bill. I have 24 employees who rely on us, they support their households. We need to get them their paychecks.”
Kloth wasn’t going to let her dream collapse without a fight. She says she was a frequent caller, not just to crime check, but also City of Spokane Code Enforcement.
Her persistence, and documentation, paid off and the city took note. Late last month, they executed a coordinated enforcement to clear the area and clean it up.
“There were six cop cars, eight by the end of the day and a huge dump truck,” Kloth said. “You’ll notice the street is clear.”
And for the first time in months, so is her ability to see a brighter future.
“Now when you are on the freeway or side street, you don’t see a homeless camp you see my business,” she said.
She says while her battle was exhausting, she’s grateful she never gave up. She hopes her story will somehow help other businesses too.
“Your employees are worth it, the families you’re supporting with your business are worth fighting for,” Kloth said.
We asked a City of Spokane spokeswoman about where the group relocated after the area was cleared. She responded with, “It is very difficult for the City to identify where people go after mitigation on an unlawful encampment. That said, when our Code Enforcement and Police teams go into these situations, they are equipped with pocket resource guides that detail options and resources for people.”
She further stated, “As for advice for businesses and property owners, there are a few things to note and this is primarily in reference to private property, as well as vacant or underutilized properties. The first is to manage your property, especially when it’s a vacant or underutilized lot. It’s critical that property owners know what is happening there when they are not there, so even just frequent visits to those sites to keep tabs on them can go a long way. Another is to ensure their mailing address on the assessor’s page is updated and correct. This helps our Code Enforcement team be able to contact property owners when there is a situation. Be responsive. When there is a case like this one, it’s important that property owners stay engaged with our Code Enforcement, Police and Legal teams because often times, their speed to respond affects our team’s ability to implement mitigation measures. We are often able to work more quickly when unlawful camping is on public property, but when it happens on private property, our ability to act has to be designated by the property owners. And lastly, please call 311 to report unlawful camping. This begins the process of deploying our Homeless Outreach Team.”
