SURREY REVS UP DEMOLITION OF CRACK HOUSES

Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum has promised to accelerate the demolition of
"flop and crack houses" in Whalley as the city cracks down on absentee and
slum landlords.

"We're accelerating this," McCallum said yesterday. "Our position and the
city's position is that we're going after all the houses that are flop
houses or drug houses that are unsafe to be in."

This week, a dilapidated Whalley "flophouse" in the 13000-block Old Yale
Road became the latest to be torn down.

McCallum said more than 60 derelict houses have been demolished in the past
year, mostly in crime-riddled Whalley -- all of them "flop/crack houses --
houses that are unsafe, unfit to live in."

McCallum said Surrey decided "to go after these absentee landlords that
have these flop houses and drug houses, and we're going to get even tougher
over the next 12 months."

Council passed a bylaw about a year ago that allowed the city to demolish
the houses and to charge the owners for the cost of taking them down.

"We want to clean up the Whalley area," said McCallum. "We're going to
continue to be tough. We expect people that own property up there to keep
it clean, tidy. And if they don't, then we're going to act on it."

The decision to demolish a house is "entirely a city land-use issue," said
Surrey RCMP Const. Marc Searle.

"It's not a police function to take down a crack house -- it's a bylaw or
city function."

The Whalley Business Improvement Association applauds the city initiative.

"The city is carrying out bylaw enforcement that as a side benefit will
make it easier for people and families to feel comfortable walking in the
area," said Lesley Tannen, executive director of the association.