SAANICH GROW-OP BUST PUTS MUNICIPALITY ON THE HOOK

Saanich already has a culprit to deal with through its fledgling
anti-grow-op bylaw -- itself.

Mayor Frank Leonard said Saanich will do a full round of repairs and
inspections at a municipally-owned property where a basement marijuana
operation was discovered last weekend.

Leonard said having the grow-op uncovered while a bylaw is in the works is
"delicious irony." The bust, just a few hundred metres from the Saanich
police station and municipal hall, was made Sunday in the 3800-block of
Lancaster Road, near Swan Lake.

Days earlier, Saanich councillors had given unanimous assent to a draft of
a bylaw aimed at ensuring homes used for grow-ops or drug labs are properly
repaired after the activities have been discovered. The bylaw has yet to
make its way through the official approval process.

"We're going to do everything required of us as though the bylaw was
already in place," Leonard said. "The point of the bylaw is to make sure
the home is safe for the new tenants, and we're going to do that."

The grow-op contained about 125 plants and various pieces of equipment with
a combined value of about $50,000.

"It was obviously undetected through inspection by our property-management
staff," Leonard said. "It can happen to anyone."

The tenants are being evicted. A 38-year-old man and 36-year-old woman are
to appear in court in March.

The Saanich bylaw would be the second on Vancouver Island, following one
passed in Courtenay in April 2003.

Dave Slobodian, Courtenay's director of regulatory services, said the bylaw
has been used 15 times since it was brought in.

"The minimum cost to the owner has been approximately $2,000, and the
highest has been around $5,000."

The $5,000 included charging the owner for fire services after drug
activity caused a blaze, he said.

The bylaw has been especially valuable in providing the municipality and
the RCMP with a means of co-operating on their dealings with grow-ops,
Slobodian said.

"We're called to the scene as soon as the occupants are removed. We assess
the house and then in most cases we've stopped occupancy until the home is
renovated."