BUSINESS WITH GROW-OP LOSES LICENCE

Operating a grow-op and keeping shoddy records were grounds used by
city council to cancel a business licence and suspend another on Monday.

At a special council meeting, city council revoked the licence for
Dream Garden Supplies, 11579 Bridgeport Rd., and handed a seven-day
suspension to We Do Recycling, 130-1566 Eburne Rd.

Last August, Richmond RCMP raided Dream Garden Supplies, finding
marijuana and remnants of an apparent grow-op. A followup city
inspection found numerous building code deficiencies.

Vince Phung and Trinh Q. Phung took over the hydroponic garden supply
business in 2004 and gave it its current name.

During the RCMP inspection, officers found a stack of garbage bags
containing loose marijuana mixed with plant stems and dirt. They also
found three boxes packed with 235 marijuana plants.

At the rear of the store, officers found a room outfitted with
equipment commonly used to grow the illegal plants.

"I have performed surveillance on this store and found that almost
100 per cent of the clientele has some previous police contact in
regards to the production of (marijuana)," wrote RCMP Const. Robert
Fay in a letter to the city.

"To continue to allow businesses like this one to operate and
blatantly break the law...is a serious breach of the public trust..."

We Do Recycling received a less harsher sentence for its activities.

According to a staff report from chief licence inspector Amarjeet
Rattan, inspectors found numerous failures to operate under the terms
of its scrap metal dealer licence.

The business failed to "maintain its proper name and address" on both
sides of company vehicles, bought scrap metal offsite, operated
outside permitted hours and failed to tag scrap items.

The city imposed strict measures on scrap metal dealers in January
2007, to stem the growth of metal theft-six months after We Do
Recycling began operating.

Howard Lu represented the business at a show cause hearing and,
through lawyer Logan Nainaar, owned up to the violations but pleaded
with the city not to recommend a licence inspection. Lu said he
wasn't familiar with operating the business, and that his partner
Simon, who had since went to China, was.

The business had already received fines totalling $2,500 before
Monday's suspension. The fines have since been paid.