Pubdate: Mon, 09 Aug 2004
Source: Kelowna Capital News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2004, West Partners Publishing Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.kelownacapnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1294
Author: Marshall Jones
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

LANDLORD LAW IS SCRUTINIZED

Landlords and drug lords could face stiff fines and penalties if
Kelowna decides to follow a City of Chilliwack bylaw restricting
residential drug operations.

Communities around B.C., including Kelowna, are keeping an eye on the
City of Chilliwack and its attempts to roll out a new bylaw
prohibiting drug operations.

City bylaws to help deter marijuana grow operations and crystal
methamphetamine labs aren't new.

But Chilliwack is taking it a step further. It targets growers with
large fines, forces absentee landlords to inspect their properties
every three months and to pay for costly renovations to make the home
habitable.

Mayor Clint Hames says his council decided something had to be done
after a study estimated Chilliwack had the second highest
concentration of grow operations in the province.

"It was not an honour we want," Hames said. "So we worked with our
RCMP, lawyers and all sorts of folks to get a bylaw we thought would
be aggressive."

Officially titled a Nuisance, Noxious or Offensive Trades Health and
Safety Bylaw, the legislation is loosely targetted at any industrial
activity in residential neighbourhoods.

It includes the threat of a $10,000 fine for carrying on growing
operations or storage of chemicals or bypassing hydro metres. The fine
should be easier to obtain than a guilty plea in criminal court, Hames
says, and hopefully it may put the cost of doing business too high.

He says the new bylaw takes advantage of new privileges afforded under
the Community Charter legislation governing cities. While other bylaws
can only regulate activities, the Charter allows them to prohibit uses.

Hames says the main thrust of the bylaw is to deter illegal uses of
residential spaces and to ensure that home modifications made for
growing operations are repaired and safe for human habitation.

It's been perceived by some as an attack on landlords but Hames
doesn't see it that way. "Some landlords who don't live in the
community, who bought ramshackle properties and don't care who rents
them  I have no sympathy for them." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake