COUNCILLORS SEEK WAYS TO COMBAT GROW HOUSES

A proliferation of marijuana grow houses in the city - specifically in
northwest Scarborough - has city councillors considering new ways to combat
the new urban menace. Monday, the city's planning committee backed a set of
new weapons to employ in their battle most of which would require sweeping
legislative changes at the provincial and federal levels and greater
co-operation with police.

"We have to take action," said committee chair Gerry Altobello (Ward 35,
Scarborough Southwest).

The committee is asking the city to go to the senior levels of government to
get more power for property standards and health inspectors who could then
use building safety and public health concerns as grounds for entry to shut
down the illegal operation.

In the meantime, the city will embark on a public awareness campaign to help
residents identify potential grow houses in their community.

"We have to come up with a program to give the public the information on how
to recognize these grow houses so they can be reported," Altobello said.

The situation has reached critical proportions in northwest Scarborough
specifically where police said 154 of the 279 grow-ops busted this year were
located.

"We're doing a better job of finding them, but I think there's more there,"
said Det. Court Booth of the Toronto police drug squad, adding that in the
last four years the total of grow-ops in the city has jumped from 30 to
almost 300.

Court said the boom in Toronto is the result of successful operations in
Peel and York regions where police were able to force the growers out of
town combined with an abundance of cheap rental accommodation in Toronto.

In the Agincourt area, growers are renting houses for a year and paying with
12 post-dated cheques to landlords who may be either unaware or turning a
blind eye to what's going on once the property is leased, area councillors
hypothesized.

"I really have concerns when people play ostriches and put their heads in
the sand and pretend it's not happening," said Mike Del Grande (Ward 39.
Scarborough-Agincourt).

"It's one a day and we haven't even scratched the surface here."

Neighbouring councillor Norm Kelly (Ward 40, Scarborough-Agincourt), who is
hosting a series of town hall meetings on the issue in the coming week,
agreed.

"The suburbs ain't what they used to be," he said. "Quiet family friendly
neighbourhoods are under assault right now and the basic fabric of our
communities is being stretched and torn."

The city should be getting some immediate help.

On Oct. 29, an informal agreement between the police and the city's property
standards department means that information is now flowing to the city that
enables it to put building code orders on the closed houses to ensure they
are up to code before being sold or leased out again.

"The objective of the exercise on the city side is to ultimately ensure that
the premises are safe before they're restored to their intended use," said
Pam Coburn, director of municipal licensing.

The problem is that the grow operation usually leaves residual chemical
residue and mold that is potentially dangerous. Growers may also bore into
the foundation to steal hydro service, which could destabilize the home.

City council is expected to deal with the issue at its Nov. 30 meeting.