LANDLORDS COULD BE ON HOOK FOR COSTS OF GROW-OP BUSTS

The city is considering drafting a bylaw that would force landlords of
homes used for marijuana growing operations and drug labs to pay the costs
associated with drug busts.

Similar bylaws have already been imposed in Port Moody and Surrey, where
landlords are sent bills to cover such costs as removing dangerous
chemicals from the premises.

Carlene Robbins, the city's manager of bylaw administration, said she will
meet next week with the city's legal department to discuss the framework
for the bylaw.

When police discovered one of the biggest crystal methamphetamine labs in
the city in the 2600-block Charles Street in January, it cost the city
$15,000 for environmental consultants to remove the drugs, chemicals and
lab equipment from the house, Robbins said.

Firefighters also had about $12,000 worth of equipment contaminated in the
bust, she said.

Add those costs to the 30 hours that drug cops, firefighters and city
inspectors spent at the house, and the total is a big bill for the city,
said Robbins, who didn't have exact numbers.

In Surrey, that tab would be sent to the landlord. If the landlord didn't
pay, the bill would be added to his or her property taxes.

"They seem quite satisfied with the way it's working, and now North Van is
considering doing the same," Robbins said.

While many drug lab operators land only fines or minimum jail sentences,
the city is concentrating on landlords, making it more expensive for them
to reopen their homes to tenants after a drug bust.

Last spring, the city doubled the fee-from $400 to $832-that landlords must
pay to have their properties inspected after a bust.

Landlords are given a list of repairs needed to reopen the house, which is
always left without power and gas until it's safe to live in.

The landlord then has to take out permits to complete the repairs-another
cost that can leave the landlord with about a $1,500 bill, not counting
labour and material costs.

Two weeks ago, the city started automatically making a notation on the
titles of properties used at least twice as grow-ops, to warn prospective
buyers.

The latest landlord to have her property tagged is So-Ming Chen, who owns
an older stucco house at 2534 East Georgia, home to grow-ops in May 2001
and February 2004.

Chen's son, who wouldn't give his name, told the Courier that his mother
was out of town and declined comment.

Const. Sarah Bloor, media liaison officer for the Vancouver police, said
nobody was home when police busted the house on both occasions.

As a result, no charges were laid against the tenants.

Since Growbusters-the police-led team staffed with firefighters, city
inspectors and hydro investigators that busts grow-ops-began in the fall of
2000, the squad has busted 1,891 grow-ops.

Of those, 93 were defined as "repeats"-meaning the premises were used twice
to house a grow-op, or the landlord owns more than one property used for a
grow-op.

Two years ago, police investigated a landlord whose seven row houses at the
north end of Victoria Drive, near the waterfront, were being used to grow
marijuana. He also owned a couple of other houses with grow-ops, said Robbins.

"We had a long talk with him, but he claimed he had no knowledge and seemed
to have a fairly reasonable explanation of how it all happened."