PROPOSED COQUITLAM BYLAW WOULD DEAL WITH THE ISSUE OF GROW OPS

A bylaw designed to help Coquitlam recoup the costs of dealing with
marijuana grow ops and meth labs will make a "tremendous" difference to
potential homebuyers, a city councillor says.

Coun. Diane Thorne, who chairs Coquitlam's livable communities committee,
said the proposed noxious or offensive business activity bylaw, as it's
known, will give homebuyers a sense of reassurance that they haven't
unknowingly purchased a former drug house.

"I think it will make a tremendous difference to somebody who's wanting to
buy a house because they'll be able to be sure that they're buying a house
that's either not been a grow op or, if it has, it's been totally
remediated and signed off by the city - which has never been the case
before in Coquitlam," Thorne said.

The bylaw, which is expected to be approved April 5, would allow city
workers to enter grow houses to conduct inspections, as well as order
homeowners to repair hazardous situations.

If the owner fails to do the repairs, the city would be allowed to complete
them - and to charge the owner for any costs incurred.

The owner would also be billed for RCMP costs associated with removal and
disposal of plants or other materials associated with the illegal activity.
If not paid, these fees would be added to the owner's property tax bill.

If that bill is not paid, the city would assume ownership of the home.

"I would think it would deter a landlord from not keeping track of what's
happening in their rental premises because the onus is going to be on them
to remediate the house," Thorne said, acknowledging that many illegal drug
operations in the Tri-Cities are run by the homeowners themselves.

"They're making so much money, probably, that they just vacate the premises
if things are starting to look tense," she said.

Even in cases where the homeowner is the one engaging in illegal activity,
the bylaw will protect potential homebuyers from unknowingly ending up with
a former drug house - since the city will still sign off on it before it
can be sold.

The B.C. Real Estate Association recently amended the property disclosure
statement to include a requirement that owners declare whether a home has
been used as a grow op.

Thorne, however, said that requirement is only helpful to potential
homebuyers if the person filling out the form discloses the information.

She said she's not concerned the proposed bylaw will burden the city's
bylaw officers, since only a small percentage of homes have grow ops at any
one time. But, she said, the bylaw will allow the city to recoup some of
the costs associated with grow ops.

"As it stands now the city is losing money because we're paying the police,
we're paying the enforcement people, we're paying everybody and we're not
getting anything back," she said. "So this way, at least, we'll start to
cover our costs."

Under the proposed bylaw, homeowners will be charged $500 for each
inspection, and will have 60 days to upgrade the property to city standards.

Anyone breaking the bylaw would be subject to a $5,000 fine.