FORT ERIE SHOULD FOLLOW FALLS LEAD WITH GROW-OPS

In recent times there have been an increasing amount of homes that
have been used for the purpose of growing marijuana. These homes are
known as grow operations.

The city of Niagara Falls has made a decision to tear down these
houses as they breed mildew and the chemicals that are being used can
be dangerous to anyone who would occupy the dwelling after the
grow-op has been discovered and dismantled.

I believe that the city of Niagara Falls is being responsible. After
all, most of these properties are rental units and they are looking
out for unsuspecting tenants who might want to rent these addresses
without knowing what the homes were used for in the past. The fact
that they are willing to demolish these residences is being
responsible to people who, along with their children could suffer
illness due to the chemicals which permeate the structure.

A few weeks ago, one of these grow-op houses was found on Oxford Road
in Crystal Beach.

The question I have is will our town council demand the building be
taken down, which would be the responsible thing to do, or are they
going to let it be rented by some poor family that does not know its
former use?

I feel the town council should make a decision on this matter and do
it soon, so that no one is made sick by the chemicals and mildew that
is in this building. As far as the cost of demolition goes, when
sentenced, the accused should be financially responsible for the cost
of taking this dwelling down, and the owner of the building should
be, in part, financially responsible for the removal.

This would send a message to those who rent, as well as the
landlords, as to what will happen if they chose to rent an address,
from or to a person, without a background check.

Garry Spear

Crystal Beach