CITY, POLICE CLOSE IN ON CRACK SHACK BYLAW

Kelowna RCMP and city staff start discussing a bylaw to crack down on
crack shacks today.

The meeting follows several police raids of rented houses occupied by
drug users and dealers. Neighbours complain the tenants resume selling
drugs as soon as they're released from custody.

"We are working with the City of Kelowna, looking at a new bylaw to
deal with crack houses," Supt. Bill McKinnon said Monday.

Many are pointing to Vernon, which allows city officials to shut down
drug houses on grounds that they're unsafe to live in. Landlords are
told they must get rid of their tenants and clean up the house before
they can rent it again.

McKinnon wants something similar for Kelowna.

"We need to take the landlords to task. There has to be some mechanism
in place to make the landlords of these crack shacks accountable. And
there has to be consequence . . . "We're going back and raiding the
same crack shack time after time. Landlords are well aware of what's
going on."

Kelowna has a bylaw that pertains to marijuana grow-ops. Because the
plants emit moisture and cause mould, bylaw officers can shut them
down as a health hazard.

Changing the bylaw so it pertains to crack shacks as well may not be a
simple task, said city manager Ron Mattiussi.

"They're more of a nuisance than a building code issue. A lot of the
grow-op bylaw deals with physical problems with the building
structure," he said Monday.

"As a city, we can't become engaged in criminal matters. We look at
safety from a building code point of view or nuisance. We have to stay
within those areas."

Kelowna's grow-op bylaw is based on legislation passed in Chilliwack.
The city's lawyers are now reviewing it, Mattiussi said.

"At this point, we're waiting for a legal opinion," he said. "We're
holding off to see how it can be beefed up to deal with crack shacks."

Sgt. Terry McLachlan, former head of the RCMP drug section, has been
inside numerous crack houses. Most of the ones he's seen are
uninhabitable, he said.

"It's hard for landlords to get rid of (offending tenants). They shut
off the power . . . We've had a couple burn recently. People live by
candlelight. They cook their crack.

"The environment they harbour is not conducive to safe living."

Police want authorities to have the power to forfeit a crack shack to
the city, said McKinnon. They could be destroyed or the landlord could
face heavy fines.

"I get constant letters of complaint from citizens of this community
who live near a crack shack (asking) what can be done about it," he
said.