CHILLIWACK LANDLORDS WILL PAY FOR GROW-OPS

Fraser Valley City a Favourite Spot for Growers to Set
Up

Chilliwack will respond to its reputation as "Colombia North" today
with what officials say is the toughest anti-marijuana-growing bylaw
yet in B.C.

Like other civic bylaws, it will put the onus on landlords to keep
tabs on their premises, but Coun. Sharon Gaetz says the city's
initiative goes further.

There is a $10,000 fine, which can be reapplied each day the offence
continues.

Water can be shut off. The city can fix up damaged homes and bill the
owner. Fire inspectors may enter if they believe the premises are unsafe.

There is a $200 fee for property inspection, $150 for occupancy
inspection and $2,500 to certify the building is safe.

The bylaw is up for first, second and third readings at a meeting of
council today.

"Organized crime is running these operations. We don't want them
here," says Gaetz.

Mayor Clint Hames says Chilliwack is favoured because "we have
single-family homes on large lots, where you're away from your neighbour."

Columbia Valley lies to the south, where dope-runners jump across the
border to Washington state, selling their half-kilos for $5,000 Cdn,
more than three times the price here.

Hames says, half-jokingly, that his biggest fear is $10,000 fines
being "paid in cash."

"When you're growing thousands of plants, that's chump change," he
says. Police estimate each house can bring in $130,000 worth of pot a
year.

With a population of 67,000, Chilliwack is a city of strip malls,
70-odd churches and 1,000 grow-ops.

RCMP Cpl. Sean Sullivan took down one in the 5100-block East Rosedale
last week. It was concealed behind blanket-covered windows in the
basement of a commercial space.

Police gained entry with pry bars, revealing a fortified door with
15-centimetre slide bolts and boards. Officers had pepper spray,
batons and Tasers at hand, but they were greeted by a family of
sausage-like chihuahuas, not pit bulls. Downstairs, almost 300 mature
plants were found and a bypass to steal electrical power.

Sharp-eyed investigators also spotted a pair of ankles sticking out
from a faraway crawl space. Attached to them was the 20-ish grower,
trying to hide.

"Judging by his lifestyle, he was not one of the people making the big
money," says Sullivan.

Chilliwack police costs are $1 million per year, with about five per
cent of the entire force dedicated to grow-op busts.

Landlords are not overjoyed with the bylaws cropping up around B.C.,
but Lynda Pasacreta says it is necessary to protect
communities.

"Police show us over and over it happens to the same landlords," says
Pasacreta, of the B.C. Apartment Owners and Managers Association. "A
lot of landlords are not doing as much as they can."

She says credit, identification, references and sometimes criminal
records need to be checked.

Landlords in Chilliwack will not be held responsible if they can
demonstrate that they have done everything possible to monitor the
situation.

Changes to the Residential Tenancy Act last January allow landlords to
inspect the dwelling every month, providing that proper notice is given.

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POT BUSTS

RCMP detachment or police department - Number of cases in 2000 -
Population - Rate per 1,000 population - Percentage variance from
provincial rate

Nanaimo 199 76,588 2.60 +120%

Chilliwack 177 73,143 2.42 +105%

Burnaby 454 192,193 2.36 +100%

Coquitlam 353 163,570 2.16 +83%

Delta 209 101,349 2.06 +75%

Abbotsford 181 115,032 1.57 +33%

Langley 160 113,547 1.41 +19%

Vancouver 663 565,477 1.17 -1%

Richmond 188 164,964 1.14 -3%

Surrey 317 339,811 0.93 -21%

Source - Department of Criminology, University College of the Fraser Valley