Pubdate: Thu, 20 Jan 2005
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/victoria/timescolonist/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Jeff Bell
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

SAANICH GROW-OP BUST PUTS MUNICIPALITY ON THE HOOK

Saanich already has a culprit to deal with through its fledgling 
anti-grow-op bylaw -- itself.

Mayor Frank Leonard said Saanich will do a full round of repairs and 
inspections at a municipally-owned property where a basement marijuana 
operation was discovered last weekend.

Leonard said having the grow-op uncovered while a bylaw is in the works is 
"delicious irony." The bust, just a few hundred metres from the Saanich 
police station and municipal hall, was made Sunday in the 3800-block of 
Lancaster Road, near Swan Lake.

Days earlier, Saanich councillors had given unanimous assent to a draft of 
a bylaw aimed at ensuring homes used for grow-ops or drug labs are properly 
repaired after the activities have been discovered. The bylaw has yet to 
make its way through the official approval process.

"We're going to do everything required of us as though the bylaw was 
already in place," Leonard said. "The point of the bylaw is to make sure 
the home is safe for the new tenants, and we're going to do that."

The grow-op contained about 125 plants and various pieces of equipment with 
a combined value of about $50,000.

"It was obviously undetected through inspection by our property-management 
staff," Leonard said. "It can happen to anyone."

The tenants are being evicted. A 38-year-old man and 36-year-old woman are 
to appear in court in March.

The Saanich bylaw would be the second on Vancouver Island, following one 
passed in Courtenay in April 2003.

Dave Slobodian, Courtenay's director of regulatory services, said the bylaw 
has been used 15 times since it was brought in.

"The minimum cost to the owner has been approximately $2,000, and the 
highest has been around $5,000."

The $5,000 included charging the owner for fire services after drug 
activity caused a blaze, he said.

The bylaw has been especially valuable in providing the municipality and 
the RCMP with a means of co-operating on their dealings with grow-ops, 
Slobodian said.

"We're called to the scene as soon as the occupants are removed. We assess 
the house and then in most cases we've stopped occupancy until the home is 
renovated."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth