It’s a seemingly ordinary outdoor mall in a suburban neighbourhood in northeast Calgary.
Savanna Bazaar, a shopping plaza in Saddle Ridge modelled on Asian and Middle Eastern markets, has a number of social spaces and businesses that offer international products.
But at night, the parking lot becomes a social hub marred by problematic behaviour — vehicle stunting, speeding, fireworks and, in some cases, harassment, according Coun. Raj Dhaliwal.
The Ward 5 councillor said he’s had complaints about the area since he was elected in 2021, but the bad behaviour began to escalate during Diwali in 2023, which was in November that year.
“What I heard was people were openly celebrating, [there was] intoxication, drifting of vehicles, speeding, social disorder, that kind of stuff,” Dhaliwal said.
“It attracted that kind of crowd after that and it started getting bigger in a way, crowds were getting bigger and then with that, also social disorder.”
That behaviour deters people from going to the plaza to shop, but also causes problems for those who live in the community. Noise issues are frequently brought up, as are safety concerns regarding people driving recklessly.
Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal, pictured here in this 2022 file photo, has been working on a plan with a number of groups to address what he calls social disorder in a northeast Calgary shopping plaza. (CBC)
There’s a plan to deal with the problems that’ll be presented to the community Thursday night at a safety forum.
It’s a co-ordinated effort involving Dhaliwal, the Calgary Police Service and the management of the plaza. The plan includes increased presence of officers and structural changes.
Some of those physical changes, in particular speed bumps and structural deterrents to prevent speeding, have already been implemented — and are already making a difference.
“They were racing around, you know, burning out their cars. It was too noisy sometimes,” said Balwinder Singh, owner of the Chai Bar at Savanna Bazaar.
“But now it’s kind of become better.”
Despite that, Singh says his business wasn’t impacted significantly before, adding that sales and traffic numbers are similar now to how they were prior to when the infrastructure was implemented.
But it’s a different story for some area residents.
“On 88th Avenue, that’s where our house is. So when they’re driving past that street, it’s so loud,” said Amrinder Bath.
He’s lived in the Savanna neighbourhood with his family since 2017, three years before the plaza was built.
It wasn’t a problem when they first arrived. But now, Bath says, the vehicle noise wakes his daughters at night.
“They should be ticketed for those vehicles as well,” Bath said.
“They’re bringing their Challengers, Mustang, you know, and then doing burn-outs, you know, and creating nuisance.”
A solution, Bath said, would be to increase law enforcement in the area, introducing speed traps along the streets leading into and out of the plaza, and issuing violations for dangerous driving.
The perception of the neighbourhood, how the bad behaviour will affect property values, and a rise in criminal activity were also cited as concerns by residents, Dhaliwal said.
“We are not at that point where we are seeing that,” Dhaliwal said, noting that one of the goals of the plan is to prevent criminal activity before it starts.
“Our office has been working on it with other partners, be it residents, be it plaza management, be it the CPS, other agencies, law enforcement agencies.
“It was planned in stages. It was planned with the feedback and input, and [the] session is all about laying out the plan to the community.”