OWNERS AMBIVALENT TO POT BYLAW

Property owners are turning a blind eye to North Cowichan's bylaw
mandating property inspections every two months.

In February, the municipality introduced the bylaw to crack down on
marijuana grow operations. But Rental Owners and Managers Society of
British Columbia director Arthur Allan says it is inconveniencing the
wrong people.

"Owners are going to have to pay an extra $300 a year to get these
inspections done," Allan says. "For the average condo or house where
property taxes are maybe $1,500, that is a 20 per cent tax increase
just to comply with this bylaw."

Of the North Cowichan properties Allan manages through Rowan Property
Management Ltd., half of the owners instructed Allan to ignore the bylaw.

Prior to the bylaw's implementation, the company inspected its
properties once every six months and within the first three months of
a new tenant's arrival. He says making potential tenants aware of the
company's inspection system already weeded out drug dealers before
they signed the dotted line.

"A few (landowners) have written to council. A lot of them don't live
in the area, so they don't know what to do. I guess they feel
powerless if they live in Alberta or somewhere else," Allan says.

Allan believes the bylaw violates tenants' privacy, since entries to
crawl spaces and attics where pot can be grown are often in closets.

"This bylaw is very invasive," he says.

The bylaw's wording also poses problems, Allan says. If an owner
complies, but doesn't find signs of a grow-op and a week later the
place burns down from an illegal operation, the owner is subject to
all the fees, service costs and penalties enshrined in the bylaw, he says.

"You can inspect all you want, but (tenants) have got 60 days in
which to start something that causes a fire," Allan says.

Landowners will not be penalized if they can prove they have followed
the bylaw and despite their best efforts a grow-op damages property,
North Cowichan director of administration Mark Ruttan says.

"If it turns out (a land owner) totally ignored the bylaw requirement
and we could prove it , then I suppose there are fines (the
municipality) could levy for failing to do inspections," he says.

Currently no standard fines for the bylaw are in place.

After hearing landowners concerns, council asked staff to study the
bylaw. The report found approximately a third of municipalities
requiring mandatory rental property inspections implemented them
bimonthly, the majority require inspections once every three months.

Council will review the staff report on Wednesday, July 18, at North
Cowichan's committee of the whole meeting. The meeting is open to the public.