BAD KITTY LOSES HER HOME

The owner of a Promontory home where hydro was diverted and 50 pounds
of dried marijuana was found in October has had the house seized by
the provincial Civil Forfeiture Office.

The City of Chilliwack is also seeking to levy a precedent-setting
$40,000 fine on the owner of the Tournier Place property where
grow-ops have twice been found.

Kitty Cheang is charged with four building and health/safety bylaw
offences in connection with the case. The city is seeking the maximum
$10,000 fine for each offence, something it has never done before.

A search warrant at the property on Oct. 29, 2010 revealed a hydro
diversion and 50 pounds of dried marijuana bud in the residence.

There were no signs of occupation in the home.

On March 11, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Safety and
Solicitor General told the Times that the civil forfeiture case
related to the property had concluded.

"The property has been forfeited and the Province is in the process of
marketing it for sale," the spokesperson said, adding, "The province
sought forfeiture on the basis that the property was an instrument of
unlawful activity."

Senior city staff said the civil forfeiture does not affect the city's
move to impose fines.

The Tournier Place home has sat empty since Oct. 29 when a city
inspector posted a notice forbidding entry to the home.

The first time a grow-op was found in the home was in December 2008.
The city fined Cheang $3,120 and ordered her to clean up the property,
which she did.

The $10,000 fine has never been issue by the city, and last year city
staff said this was because of the extensive and uncertain court
process required.

The matter between Cheang and the city was first in court on Tuesday
but was adjourned for two weeks.

No criminal charges have been laid in connection with the marijuana
found in the home, according to Chilliwack RCMP.