CITY GROW-OP RULES RECOVER CLEANUP COSTS

One strike - and you're up in smoke.

A bylaw meant to recover city costs of busting repeat marijuana grow
operations was up for debate again at city council chambers yesterday.

Councillors voted to give an amended bylaw three readings last night,
which means it awaits only fourth and final reading to make it law.

Once in effect, landlords who have had their property busted more
than once for a grow-op could face costs into the thousands of
dollars for cleanup and police time.

Back in September, council voted to defer action on the bylaw, titled
the Abbotsford Controlled Substance Property Bylaw, pending the
outcome of an expected court challenge of a similar bylaw enacted by
Surrey, another area plagued by grow-ops.

They were also concerned that landlords who used "due diligence'' in
screening tenants would be unfairly penalized. Or, as Coun. John
Redekop then remarked: "Better a guilty man go free than an innocent
man be hanged. ''

However, that bylaw, dubbed the Surrey Solution, has not been
challenged. For Surrey, it's meant recovering more than $45,000 spent
on arresting suspects and cleaning up properties used for growing
marijuana, Grant Acheson, acting director of development services,
told council.

For Surrey landlords, many of them absentee, it has resulted in bills
ranging from $500 to $2,500, depending on the size of the operation
and the amount of clean up required.

Other B.C. cities, including Kelowna, are considering similar
legislation. The bylaw enables the city, as a condition of
re-occupancy of a home where a grow-op was found and removed, to have
the owner(s) obtain a building permit for restoration of health,
safety and fire requirements of the building code. It also would
allow Abbotsford Police to recover extraordinary costs of
dismantling, transportation, storage and disposal of the drug grow
equipment.

The bylaw as presented yesterday contains two changes to the one
proposed last fall.

One states that unless a property owner is also a resident of the
house, the owner is only liable to pay extraordinary police costs on
a second offence. As Acheson told council: "If you (an owner) live in
a house where a grow-op occurs, there is no free ride.'' The second
change is that there is a right of re-consideration of payment, in
other words an appeal first to the Abbotsford Police chief and then
to city council. This would include those ordered to make payment
upon a second offence.

Coun. Simon Gibson voted to proceed with the amended bylaw, a motion
seconded by Coun. Ed Fast.

"I'm confident my original concerns have been addressed,'' said
Gibson. "I have a lot of trust in our police - they have a history of
handling themselves with decorum. This will do well for the taxpayers
of our city.'' Said Redekop: "We're talking big dollars. If they
allow big grow-ops, this is what they'll be charged. We want to
eliminate this whole matter.''