LANDLORDS ON THE HOOK FOR GROW OPS

Maple Ridge legalized its marijuana grow op and meth lab bylaw Tuesday.

That means from now on, if a grow op or meth lab is busted at a rental
property, the property owner will be on the hook for the cost of
dismantling the lab or grow op - as well as picking up the tab for police
time and cleaning up the mess.

The bylaw was passed unanimously by council but not before former mayor and
property manager Al Hogarth stepped up to speak on the issue.

Hogarth said while he welcomes the bylaw he also hopes the district will
push higher levels of government to hold the actual criminals growing the
dope or making the meth more accountable through tougher penalties.

"I think there are bits and pieces of legislation that should be modified,"
said Hogarth in an interview Thursday. "What I am questioning is we need
our legislatures to change certain rules, acts and policies (to toughen
drug laws) and the best group is the municipality to do that. So when these
things happen the tenants or occupants (of rental properties involved in
drugs) get charged with the damage they do."

A "tongue-in-cheek" example of that given by Hogarth was on how during many
grow op busts, the suspect is typically charged by the Crown for theft of
electricity (which is provided by BC Hydro - a Crown Corporation) but
rarely is a charge of willful damage laid for the mess left behind by a
grow op.

"Landlords are left to fend for themselves," he said

But at the same time, Hogarth says where the new bylaw will be most
effective is when unscrupulous landlords who turn a blind eye to drugs
being manufactured get busted.

"Absolutly, I hope it deters the ones that (allow grow ops) knowingly," he
said.

There are an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 rental units within Maple Ridge
borders. Hogarth figures about 10 per cent of those rental properties are
involved in drug manufacturing and only 10 per cent of all rental
properties are overseen by property management companies.

"I'm sure 90 per cent of property owners out there...are on the up-and-up.
There's only a small percentage (of landlords) that possibly know this is
going on," he said, adding the new bylaw will likely lead landlords to be
more vigilant about their properties.

In fact, written within the bylaw is a requirement that landlords inspect
their properties once every three months, says Brock McDonald, head of
bylaws with the district.

"I think with grow ops it's pretty easy to determine (if there is one) from
looking from the outside," he said.

A major component of the bylaw includes an education campaign for landlords
on how to recognize signs of illegal goings on happening on their properties.

In the coming months, all landlords will be receiving a package in the mail
filled with tips and information from the RCMP and the district.

McDonald explained that if drug activity is suspected, Landlords who bring
that information to the district voluntarily, won't be forced to pay for
taking the grow op down.

"(Landlords) doing their due diligence and are (inspecting their
properties) on a regular basis,we implore then to call (if they suspect a
grow op) we will help them however we can."