CITY EYES GROW-OP FINES

Nanaimo is looking closely at Chilliwack's approach to recovering the
costs of cleaning up marijuana grow operations.

Chilliwack could soon adopt a bylaw that would require landlords to
routinely inspect their premises, and report anything illegal they
find.

It would allow fines of up to $10,000 if landlords fail to remove mold
and repair other damages caused by commercial pot-growing operations.

But the City of Nanaimo wants to see if Chilliwack's bylaw is legal
before following suit, says bylaw services manager Dave Nichols.

"If you look at our bylaws, they quote the authority we use to impose
the bylaw," Nichols said. "They don't do that.

"The city has always taken the approach with grow-ops that we're not
looking for a punitive result because we think that puts us in the
scope of federal law, which is criminal law."

That raises the risk of a legal challenge, since criminal justice
falls outside municipal authority.

"We have a right to administer things like the B.C. Building Code.
We're not looking to punish everybody but we're looking to recover the
costs so the taxpayer in general is not saddled with the costs of
activities on private property," said Nichols.

So any bylaw will have to be vetted by city lawyers first. Nichols
hopes to have something to present to city council soon.