LANDLORDS BILLED FOR GROW-OPS

Saanich will be the first municipality on the Island to adopt a
controversial bylaw that bills landlords part of the costs of
investigating marijuana grow operations.

Council unanimously approved the Controlled Substance Property Bylaw
at a committee of the whole meeting, Monday Jan. 10, amid concerns
expressed by community members and the Rental Owners and Managers
Association.

Similar laws have made waves in the Lower Mainland, where landlords
have been stuck paying the high cost of covering the tab for police
investigations that are billed to local government.

Mayor Frank Leonard said the impetus for the bylaw was the Lower
Mainland's reaction to the number of illegal crystal meth labs and
marijuana grow operations being busted there.

The Saanich bylaw is actually much softer, reflecting a smaller
problem here.

"This is a small step, a minor step," he told council as a gathering
of nervous landowners watched the proceedings.

Only external policing costs will be charged to the landowner, Leonard
said.

This means police could recover costs if they order an RCMP Hazardous
Materials team to clear the area, or if they hire an electrician to
repair wiring to make it safe to enter a grow operation.

"It's not that there are new costs. It's just simply are they going to
be borne by all taxpayers, or just by the property owners involved?,"
said Leonard, after the meeting. "If we call an electrician to a house
to make it safe, that property owner is going to end up paying those
costs." Saanich Police have only called in a haz mat team once - for a
crystal meth lab in a Cordova Bay home.

Bylaw won't aid law enforcement

"From an enforcement perspective, it doesn't really add another tool,"
said Saanich Police Inspector John Charlton, speaking to council about
the new bylaw.

He noted it might help police recoup some of their costs.

It may also deter some landlords who police suspect charge inflated
rents in return for allowing grow operations, said Charlton. The bulk
of the bylaw is less controversial, involving rules meant to protect
the health of renters who move in after a grow-op - to make sure the
property owner repairs the home to code and the home is free of mold
or toxins.

Leonard pointed out most of the new bylaw requires actions that
responsible landowners already do, like having all air ducts, walls
and ceilings cleaned in any house where drugs were
manufactured.

Despite the bylaw's intentions, some landlords were not
convinced.

Vicki Sanders, who has three rental properties in Saanich and is the
president of the Quadra Cedar Hill Community Association, told council
she was talking from personal experience.

She was fooled by two clean-cut tenants who modified her home, which
ended up costing Sanders $1,500 for electrician fees not to mention
her time cleaning up.

The bylaw has enough teeth that she is considering getting out of the
business.

"It certainly could influence me," she said following the
meeting.

The bylaw includes up to $3,500 in fees, such as a $150 fee for an
occupancy inspection and $250 to obtain a re-occupancy permit. There
are further fees if owners fail to take make the repairs.

Leonard said Saanich staff did not feel these fees would be too
onerous, especially compared to the cost of the repairs themselves.

Also, owners could hire their own inspectors, possibly for cheaper,
and provide Saanich with proof that the buildings are livable.

Sanders called the fees "punitive."

"Most landlords do not make a lot of money," she said, noting that for
many people, a large portion of the rent pays the mortgage. An extra
$3,000 on top of repairs would hurt a lot, she said.

The extra cost might actually encourage landlords to cover up the fact
they've discovered a grow-op rather than report it to police, she
said. "I'm usually pretty open, but I think I would be inclined to not
report it," she said.

Leonard noted that most landlords want to be good citizens. "I'm sure
a landlord would not want to break the law," he said.

There's another reason for landlords to comply - up to $10,000 in
fines for contravening the bylaw.

Cautious landowner still duped

Saanich landlord Vicki Sanders said she was taken in by two
sophisticated and clean cut men, with impeccable references.

Sanders became suspicious after she heard a fan emanating from the
basement while she was gardening outside her rental property. She
decided to inspect the home. When she asked her tenants to come in,
she found the men would let her look at either the basement or the
upstairs bathroom after a days notice, but not both at the same time.

She then asked for a full house inspection and they moved
out.

Sanders found the wiring changed, the furnace vent modified, damp
floors and pot leaves in floor cracks.

She later learned that the two men were renting a home down the street
at the same time, using slightly different names.

Sanders suspects they were using her home to farm the pot and the
other house as a residence.