POCO PUTS POT PROPERTY OWNERS ON NOTICE

The owners of four Port Coquitlam homes that housed marijuana grow
ops will have notices placed against their land titles this week as
part of a crackdown by the city.

Monday, PoCo city council unanimously voted to place the notices on
the titles to force the owners to clean up their contaminated
houses. Council said the measure is also being taken to protect
potential home buyers, to alert banks or mortgage companies, and to
reduce the city's liability.

The notices - on houses located at 3819 Sefton St., 2446 Kelly Ave.,
3453 Coast Meridian Rd. and 4024 Mars Pl. - will be lifted once
remediation on the homes is complete, said Kim Fowler, PoCo's
director of development services.

It's the first time the city has placed notices against titles for
former grow op homes. The city is allowed to take the step under
section 57 of the Community Charter if the city's building inspector
deems a house unsafe or if work has been done to the building
without the necessary permits.

In the case of the four homes, none of the owners had taken out
permits for remediation, Fowler said, although all four had
contacted city hall after receiving the letters.

At Monday's meeting, Fowler displayed pictures of the four
properties to city council, showing the extent of the damage caused.

The photos, taken by city staff, show electrical, plumbing and
structural alterations. Fowler said remedial action or prosecution
will be considered against the owners if the homes are occupied
without the remediation being done.

Under section 57, the owner has the chance to address council about
the proposed notice on title. Only one owner appeared, Vince De
Stefano, who said he had no knowledge renters at his Coast Meridian
Road home were growing pot. He faces a $2,692 bill from the city for
costs to dismantle the operation.

In the case of 2446 Kelly Ave., which had a grow op and a meth lab,
council heard the owner faces a $79,909 bill for clean-up.

"RCMP and hazardous materials teams would not allow city staff to
enter the property to inspect due to the very hazardous conditions,"
Fowler wrote in her report to council.

Sean Horlor, a spokesperson for the Real Estate Board of Greater
Vancouver, said even if a former grow op property has been
remediated, by law, that information has to be disclosed to potential buyers.

"It's the seller's obligation to tell the realtor," he said. "If
they don't tell the realtor, then there's nothing the realtor can do
because they don't know."

If the seller tells the realtor and the realtor doesn't pass on that
information to potential home buyers, the buyer can launch a
complaint to the real estate board or the Real Estate Council of BC,
Horlor said.

Realtors in this province are trained to look for signs of a former
grow home, he said.