DOPE BYLAW IGNORED

Landowners are turning a blind eye to North Cowichan's bylaw
mandating bi-monthly property inspections.

In February, the municipality introduced the bylaw to crack down on
marijuana growing 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 said.

"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 the company inspected the properties once every
six months and within the first three months of a new tenant's arrival.

Allan said 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," he said.

One of the problems is owners don't have easy access to their properties.

" 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 said he believes the bylaw violates tenants' privacy, since
entries to crawl spaces and attics are often in closets.

"This bylaw is very invasive," he says.

The bylaw's wording also poses problems.

For example, Allan said, 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 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 said.

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 said.

"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 said.

There are currently no standard fines for the pot bylaw already 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.