CITY READY TO GO AFTER LANDLORDS

In an attempt to nip marijuana grow operations in the bud, Langley
City council voted 6-1 in favour of passing a bylaw that would hold
landlords financially accountable for their pot-growing tenants.

The bylaw, if passed, will require landlords to become "diligent"
property owners, asking them to periodically inspect their rental
homes to ensure criminal activity isn't going on inside.

If criminal activity, like a grow operation, is found and shut down by
police, the bylaw would then become active, requiring the landlord to
pay $1,300 in fees to acquire a re-occupancy permit that would allow
the owner to again rent the residence.

"We want to have this bylaw in place for health and safety reasons,"
said Langley City Mayor Marlene Grinnell.

"I had a grow-op at the end of my street and nobody in the
neighbourhood knew. The police found the plants and removed them. A
contractor came in and did some repairs but the home wasn't checked by
anyone who could properly say the insulation in the attic was safe,
there wasn't mould growing inside the walls and the venting and wiring
problems were fixed.

"Right now, the police are doing their job but there is no follow-up,
no plan in place to make sure that who ever moves in after a grow-op
or meth lab is taken down, that the place is safe," she said. "This
bylaw will do this."

Landlords will only be affected by this bylaw if police have to go
into a home where there are criminal activities.

Landlords who report their pot-growing tenants won't be affected by
this bylaw, Grinnell said, adding that they will still have to pay a
estimated $200 in application fees.

The bylaw, which received first, second and third reading at the April
23 council meeting, will also be dealt with by Langley Township
council. (See Township story).

Although the bylaw does focus on marijuana grow operations, it's not
limited to that, said Langley RCMP Cst. Derrick Gravelle, who, along
with a committee, spent two years putting together the details.

"Criminal activity could be anything from crystal meth labs, trick
pads for prostitutes, crack houses or shooting galleries," Gravelle
said.

If this sounds a little far removed from the Langleys and closer to
East Vancouver's neighbourhood problems, think again, Gravelle said.

"I went to 700 calls for service to a crackhouse. The crackhouse
deteriorated that neighbourhood and the community became the victim of
this one house," he said, citing this as an example of how the bylaw
could be effective.

"Once we got the landlord involved, activities ceased and the renters
of that property were evicted. Now that neighbourhood is calm and serene."

Councillor Jack Arnold raised concerns about calling upon landlords to
make sure their renters are upholding the law. He said this is going
beyond a property owner's duties.

"We're looking at something that should be covered under the Criminal
Code," Arnold said. "How and why should landlords know what to look
for?"

Arnold, the only councillor to vote against the bylaw, argued that
this type of home inspection should be handled by the police.

"We should be getting the feds to prosecute these negligent landlords
that don't care who they rent to. We shouldn't pick on those landlords
that just don't know what to look for," he said.

Even though the bylaw does require property owners to inspect their
rental homes, landlords will still have to comply with the Residential
Tenancy Act that requires them to give a tenant 24 hours notice before
coming onto the property.

"What if we call our tenant, tell them we're coming over at such at
time and they clean up the place so it looks like nothing is going
on?" Arnold asked of Gravelle.

"It is a lot harder than you think to hide marijuana plants," Gravelle
answered.

Councillor Ted Schaffer agreed with Gravelle, telling council of his
recent encounters with rental grow operations.

"When I first read about this bylaw I thought it was an infringement
on landlord/tenants rights, but I have changed my mind," Schaffer
said, adding that there have been two grow-op busts in his
neighbourhood this year.

"Last week I was involved with a grow-op shut down of a two-level
home. Upstairs it looked completely normal, but the basement was
covered in plastic and there were 100 plants, four feet tall.

"In a grow house there is a lot of fans going at the same time,
ventilating air into the attic. The insulation is ruined because of it
and the wiring is gutted and so is the water system."

In the city, 16 grow-ops have been busted by the police this
year.

Gravelle told council that there are a dozen more grow operations to
take down, but it's hard for the police to keep up with the lucrative
business.

The bylaw will not apply to commercial building owners, like mushroom
barns, which are often found to be housing large and sophisticated
marijuana grow operations.

A similar bylaw will be coming before both councils that will deal
solely with commercial buildings, Grinnell said.

"We wanted to have two distinct bylaws because things would become too
confusing if we mixed commercial with residential," she said.

The residential bylaw doesn't deal with land owners who have criminal
activity going on in their own homes either.

"They aren't part of the bylaw because we can't do anything about it.
What you do on your property is your affair. It is still illegal
whether it's going on in a rental or owned premises. You bear the
punishment of criminal charges no matter what, but the bottom line is,
right now, most grow-ops are in rental homes," Grinnell said.

In order to obtain an occupancy permit, a landlord will have to pay an
application fee, plus a fee for each inspector who attends and
inspects the property to ensure it is safe to live in.

Those inspectors will include police, fire, health, electrical and
building inspectors. If this bylaw is passed by both the township and
the city in June, it will be the first of its kind in the Greater
Vancouver Regional District.