NO GROW-OP, BUT A $5,000 INSPECTION

Energy Use Determines If City Public Safety Team Comes Calling

Bryan and Selina Prevost were eagerly expecting a visit from the stork
- -- not the public safety inspection team.

The Coquitlam residents found themselves putting aside baby room
projects when they were fined $5,000 by the City of Coquitlam and
forced out of their house because of a suspected grow-op that does not
exist.

"This has been quite an ordeal," Bryan Prevost said Tuesday. (The fine
has since been waived.)

On Wednesday, April 23, the couple found an inspection notice from the
City of Coquitlam on their door, notifying them that the public safety
inspection team -- created to root out grow-ops in the city via bylaw
infractions -- would come by the next day.

When they arrived, Prevost said, he let the fire inspector and city
bylaw staff inside because, "We have nothing to hide."

Inspectors didn't find pot plants or remnants of a grow operation, but
found some wiring problems and heating system ventilation they felt
was dangerous. They kicked Prevost and his very pregnant wife out of
their house -- and informed them that they would be charged $5,000 to
inspect the home again on Friday, when the team would return.

With a "Do not occupy" order on their front door and hoping Selina
would be two weeks or more overdue, the couple began trying to correct
the deficiencies in the house.

"There were a couple of things. It was standard stuff," Prevost said,
"but nothing of the life-safety variety. It wasn't like, 'Fix this or
you're going to die tomorrow.'"

The electrician brought in to rework the wiring "balked" at the minor
nature of the infractions -- a wire that wasn't crimped properly and
some plastic knockouts missing from outlets.

"He asked me if the inspector was even an electrician," Prevost said.
All told, he spent $2,500 in repairs -- primarily to reroute the
ventilation system from his hot water tank.

When Prevost started looking into the requirements for public safety
inspection teams, he wondered how they came to his door in the first
place: His house was consuming 70 kilowatt hours per average day,
while the inspection team considers an average of 94 kilowatt hours
per day a grow-op. (Prevost said B.C. Hydro representatives he called
have said a typical grow-op consumes 300 kilowatt hours.)

He asked why his home was chosen, and was told that his energy use had
been irregular.

Prevost said the house was unoccupied before they bought it. So
instead of the typical bell curve of average consumption, Prevost said
graphs of their use included sharp peaks and valleys after B.C. Hydro
read the meter.

"They're comparing it to when the house was empty," he said. "These
jumps should have alerted them that I don't have a grow-op. Two
minutes would have avoided all this, two minutes of calculation on
their part."

Standing outside his home Tuesday morning -- just after Selina had
left for the hospital to give birth -- Prevost said he can't fully
celebrate the family's new addition until he knows for certain his
repairs are complete, and has phoned the city repeatedly for
confirmation about his inspection status.

"I did get a letter from the city saying I'd get a letter from the
city," he said, shaking his head. "The level of incompetence at the
city is unbridled."

Frustrated with the bureaucracy, Prevost called a daily newspaper last
week and the story ran Sunday -- unleashing a media frenzy over the
family squatting, in essence, in their own home.

The coverage prompted city staffers to address those in attendance at
Monday's council meeting.

City manager Peter Steblin defended the bylaw, saying city staff are
"constantly making changes to the program."

"I want to assure the residents of Coquitlam that there are many
different sides to these kinds of stories," Steblin said, adding that
the program is "a well thought-out program and it is making a
demonstrable difference to the safety of our community."

Trevor Wingrove, the city's general manager of corporate services,
said 128 properties were inspected between May and December of last
year. Of those properties, 88 had the bylaw applied and power shut
off. At an additional 24 properties, there was a "strong suspicion"
the bylaw was being contravened, but staff did not enact the bylaw due
to insufficient evidence.

At nine other properties inspected, no evidence of a grow-op was
found, while three properties were found to have electrical problems
unrelated to grow-ops.

Wingrove noted that staff are reviewing the bylaw, and a report to
council will be forthcoming.

Mayor Maxine Wilson said Tuesday afternoon that not all homeowners are
charged inspection fees.

"Trust me, if there is a small little electrical fault, there's not
going to be a loss of occupancy," she said. "If anyone loses
occupancy, it's because there's an imminent, serious safety issue."

City staff have since waived the charges against Prevost. Meanwhile,
he has been contacted by 20 other families -- many wanting to remain
anonymous in fear of retribution from the city -- who have had the
same experience. Some paid the city $5,000 just to make it all go
away, he said, while some refused.

"If I had a grow-op, I could afford it. But the travesty is that
people who aren't criminals are being charged $5,000 for an inspection
and treated like criminals," Prevost said, adding that he doesn't
believe the inspections are about home safety.

"It'd be pretty easy to find a deficiency in any house you go into ...
This is extortion, the definition of extortion."

The irony, he said, is he doesn't want grow-ops in his neighbourhood
any more than Coquitlam council does.

"The city's trying to get rid of criminal activity, and I agree. Let's
get rid of grow-ops," he said. "The program is good, but it needs
drastic improvements. When they go in there and don't find a grow-op,
they have to justify their visit.

"Some people are criminals, and some aren't. But there's very little
common sense between the two."