SAFETY STILL KEY, CITY SAYS, WITH OR WITHOUT GROW OP

Safety will continue to be the key for Coquitlam's controversial
public safety inspection program, which has been the target of public
criticism over the last few weeks.

And improvements will be made to the program, which is aimed at
shutting down marijuana grow operations and targets homes using
reports from BC Hydro about high power usage.

That means even homes that have been inspected and found not to have a
grow op could be required to undergo upgrades for electrical and other
safety issues.

A number of Coquitlam homeowners have gone to the media in recent
weeks saying they were unfairly targeted by the city's inspection
team, which was created last May. Some are complaining that it's not
fair they be required to fix electrical and/or building code
deficiencies discovered as result of an inspection that was intended
to find a grow op.

While there is no legislation mandating that bylaw inspectors ticket
for infractions, safety issues make it important for them to do so,
said city spokesperson Therese Mickelson.

"We've asked them to look for balance, to go in there with a focused
intent of looking for issues and concerns related to life and fire
safety," she said, citing issues including electrical wiring and
natural gas venting.

Most homeowners, if we flag something like that, are going to say,
'Thank you very much.'"

"Once our staff discover something that is a potential hazard to the
safety of the house or the people in it, we have to deal with it
because if we ignore that and didn't bring it up to a safe standard,
someone could be injured, the house could be destroyed and the city of
Coquitlam could be found liable," Mayor Maxine Wilson said yesterday.

While the focus on safety won't change, communication between city
staff and owners of homes targeted as part of the public safety
inspection program will improve via new protocol. As well, owners who
want their homes inspected immediately upon notification will have
that option.

Previously, they had 24 hours to schedule an appointment with the
inspection team, comprised of city building and bylaw inspectors, an
electrical inspector, an RCMP officer and a member of Coquitlam
Fire/Rescue.

Occupancy permits are only revoked when inspectors find damage related
to a grow operation, including poorly done electrical wiring and
mould. In a recent case covered by Global TV, one couple had their
occupancy revoked due to damage incurred by their home's previous
owner. In that instance, Mickelson said, the city tried to be
"flexible" by waiving inspection fees and not cutting utilities to the
home so the parents-to-be could remain living there.

In 2007, 255 tickets were handed out for offences, including
interference with hydro meters, prohibited structural modifications,
allowing mould or fungus to grow, and violations related to
remediation and occupancy.

Of the 128 properties inspected last year, 88 - or 70% - had their
occupancy revoked and/or power shut off related to a grow op. Nine
were found to have no evidence of a grow op; in those cases, their
high-power consumption was linked to factors that could not be
identified in advance, such as an 800-gallon aquarium, a computer
business operating without a licence or renovation work taking place
without a permit.

Most city councillors contacted this week by The Tri-City News said
they were awaiting information from staff about how to limit the
number of unnecessary inspections but all said they were supportive of
the program. "I think it's done an excellent job of trying to get a
dent in the massive problem of grow ops in the city of Coquitlam,"
said Coun. Fin Donnelly. "The public is saying 'Deal with it, get
these grow ops out of our neighbourhood and do something.'"

But at least two councillors are already calling for specific
changes.

Coun. Lou Sekora said if a house is inspected and no evidence of a
grow operation is found, the inspection team should leave immediately.
"Don't go through the house three or four hours later and see if you
can get them on some kind of violation," he said. "That's not what I
voted for."

And Coun. Richard Stewart said perhaps just one inspector should enter
a house initially to determine if the rest of the team is needed. If
no grow op is found but safety issues are identified, the homeowner
should be notified and given time to fix deficiencies before being
ticketed.

"[Right now] we give them a penalty for us having made a mistake," he
said. "The innocent Coquitlam resident should be thankful that we have
the program, not regret it."

During a council meeting Monday, city manager Pete Steblin said there
are more sides to the news reports that are not being told.

"Whenever you hear certain stories in the media, you hear one
perspective," he said, later calling the city's grow op initiative "a
very well thought-out program" that the community wants.

"If, on occasion, certain situations get captured that were not
originally intended for that, we apologize," he said.

NOT ONLY HERE

Coquitlam is one of several municipalities with police-supported
inspection programs designed to get rid of pot farmers.

It's also not the only such program facing controversy.

Initiatives such as Coquitlam's public safety inspection program are
also in place in Port Coquitlam, Abbotsford, Langley, Mission and
Surrey, where two residents are suing the city, BC Hydro and the
provincial government after their power was cut May 30, 2007.

They want to strike down an amendment to the BC Safety Standards Act
that allows safety inspectors to enter homes believed to contain grow
ops, alleging the amendment is unconstitutional because the province
does not have authority to enact criminal legislation.

The legislative changes were enacted after lobbying from Surrey Fire
Chief Len Garis and Darryl Plecas, a criminology professor from the
University of the Fraser Valley. The theory was that homes with high
power consumption could contain marijuana grow ops, making those homes
a greater fire risk.

"I think in general we have to understand that this is focused
specifically around safety, the safety of our neighbourhoods," Garis
told The Tri-City News. "One thing that we have discovered of these
homes that we know have contained marijuana grow operations, the
[fire] damage is much greater and often spreads beyond the home of
origin."

About 84% of locations inspected in Surrey have been found to have
electrical-safety violations that required remediation, he said. And
since the program was implemented in Surrey in 2005, the number fires
associated with grow operations has fallen by 70%.

He admitted some residents have complaints about the program and it
isn't perfect but it works.

"There are going to be inconveniences and I wish we had methods to
become more accurate on it," Garis said, "but I think if we do our
diligence, we can minimize that, and hope that the public will
understand that we're doing our best possible to try and solve the
problem."

In Abbotsford last year, approximately 148 suspected grow ops were
inspected and of those, 88 were shut down. Twenty grow operations
involved reports to the Ministry of Children and Families when young
children were at significant risk and grow op related fires were
reduced by 90% in Abbotsford.

The U.K. is taking notice of the public safety program and Plecas
presented research last month at the prestigious Oxford Round Table on
how B.C. is dealing with grow ops.