TENANT GROUP FUMES OVER GROW-OP BYLAW

A new bylaw that puts greater onus on Richmond landlords to keep drug
labs and marijuana grow-ops out of their rental properties is being
panned by a renters' rights organization.

City council Monday gave first, second and third readings to a new
bylaw aimed at recovering the costs of policing marijuana growing
operations and drug labs from landlords.

Under the city's new property maintenance and repair bylaw, landlords
will be required to inspect their rental properties at least every
three months.

If they don't, and if a marijuana grow-op is found there, they could
be charged the full cost of police, fire and city services. Those
costs can be significant, running into thousands of dollars.

The bylaw unfairly penalizes renters, says Tom Durning of the Tenants
Rights Action Coalition. He added it also fails to address the fact
that many grow-ops are in warehouses or homes owned by drug dealers.

"What are they going to do about owned homes and warehouses and
commercial properties?" Durning wondered. "Are they going to inspect
them, too? Are owners better citizens than those who rent?"

According to the Surrey RCMP's Marijuana Enforcement Team, a large
number of grow-ops there are in homes owned by drug dealers.

"It used to be most of the commercial grow-ops (were) in rental
housing," Cpl. Vince Arsenault of Surrey's Marijuana Enforcement Team
recently told the Province. "That's totally not the case anymore. I
would say 90-plus per cent are in owned homes."

Richmond is not the only municipality putting more responsibility on
landlords. A year ago, Vancouver introduced a flat penalty for the
owners of properties that housed grow-ops.

Landlords there pay $1,700 to cover the costs of policing, fire and
building inspections. That's on top of the $1,500 to $1,700 paid for
permits.

In total, Vancouver landlords pay an average of $3,200 when a grow-op
is found on their property. That's not counting what they pay for repairs.

In Richmond, landlords will pay the actual costs for police, fire
department and building inspections, rather than a flat fee.

Unlike Vancouver, however, Richmond is providing an appeal
process.

Landlords who regularly inspect their properties will not be hit with
the additional costs; those who are will have the ability to appeal to
city council.

If a similar bylaw in place in Vancouver is any indicator, council may
not actually see many appeals.

Since June of last year, there has been an average of 17 grow-op busts
per month in Vancouver, but few complaints about the new penalty, said
Carlene Robbins, manager of bylaw administration for Vancouver.

"We've only had, I would say, five complaints that I'm aware of,"
Robbins said. "I thought there would have been a huge outcry."

Of the five complaints received, only one landlord was let off the
hook, she said, and that was because the landlord himself was the one
who brought the grow-op on his property to the attention of the city
and police.

Landlords aren't the only ones feeling the heat from the city's
crackdown on marijuana grow-ops - the city is also hoping to recover
some costs from the criminals. The city plans to ask the provincial
and federal solicitors general to return proceeds of crime from
grow-op busts to the city.

Currently, there is a bill making its way through the House of Commons
that will, if passed, make it easier for the courts to seize the
proceeds of crime.

But if Richmond hopes to get a cut, it will likely need support from
other municipalities, says Richmond MP Raymond Chan.

"What we need to do is get the support of the federation of
municipalities and so on to increase interest in a national program,"
he said. "I think it would be very difficult for the federal
government to deal with this a city at a time."

Richmond is hoping to use any additional revenue generated from
increased busts to hire another Green Team police officer, at a cost
of $129,000 per year.