POT LAW NEEDS WORK

A new City of Langley bylaw aimed at cracking down on marijuana grow
operations is cleverly written to avoid saying what its true intention is.

The Maintenance of Premises Bylaw allows a variety of municipal inspectors
to enter homes and buildings to determine that they are safe and suitable
for occupancy. If they are not safe the inspectors can order that they be
brought up to current building, electrical, plumbing, fire or other safety
standards. The bylaw was presented to council on July 7 and passed into law
on July 18. The new bylaw replaces a two-year-old bylaw that limited
similar provisions to rental properties.

The bylaw has the effect of targeting those who have converted homes or
warehouses for hydroponic grow operations. In those cases electrical
systems are often bypassed or installed unsafely. Plumbing and ventilation
may not meet current standards, and fire hazards may have been created.

While the intent of the law may be to close down grow operations its actual
wording has much broader application. The bylaw allows inspectors to enter
any premises in the municipality and order an upgrading. If the work is not
done the owners can be fined up to $1,000 a day for every day the work is
not done. The bylaw also allows the municipality to send in work crews and
bill the property owner. If the bill is not paid the amount will be added
to property taxes.

To make it clear that this bylaw does not just apply to marijuana grow ops
the bylaw specifically states that it does not authorize anyone to enter
onto property for the purposes of enforcing a federal law. When a similar
law was enacted in 2001 it was limited to rental properties. Now the bylaw
has been expanded to include all property in the City but for some strange
reason the official name of the bylaw still refers to residential premises.
We live in a world where things are complicated and solutions cannot be
straight forward. When local government intends to close down grow
operations and crack houses it must find an excuse in the "safety" of the
premises before anything can be done.

Congratulations to the City of Langley for trying to do something about a
growing problem, but further work should be done to fine tune and create a
bylaw that strikes directly at its intent, and does not have to skirt the
intent with side concerns, that someday could be used against property
owners in ways that the present council never intended.