Cities look at ways to stop grow-ops
By: Leneen Robb, The Coquitlam Now, 02/16/04

As marijuana grow-op busts at high-end homes on the Westwood Plateau continue - six were raided this week alone - Coquitlam is looking at ways to deter grow operators from doing business in the community.

Coun. Kent Becker chairs the city's administrative services standing committee, which deals with policing issues.

He told The NOW the city has to take action, because priorities like community policing are suffering as resources are used to deal with grow ops.

"It's in the early stages at this juncture, but we definitely have to step up to the plate here," he said of the city's plan.

"Something has got to be done. People who own homes that are caught growing marijuana ... they're going to have to be facing some tougher consequences."

Becker said city staff are looking at what other Lower Mainland municipalities are doing to address the issue before formulating a made-in-Coquitlam plan.

"I think we've got to start levying hefty fines and recover some of the costs of policing that are associated with these operations," he said.

Both Port Moody and Port Coquitlam have already taken action against the pot problem.

In Port Moody, police add up the costs of taking down grow ops, and the city bills homeowners for the corresponding amount.

Mark Roberts, manager of budgeting and payroll, said homeowners have a two-week window to pay the charges.

Those who don't will have the amount added to their property tax bills.

Port Moody's bylaw was passed last summer and some homeowners have already had charges added to their accounts.

In Port Coquitlam, the city makes landlords delay renting suites that have been used for grow ops or meth labs until the units are cleaned and inspected according to RCMP standards - which include hiring a professional cleaner and removing any mould or water-damaged drywall.

Each landlord has to pay a $300 inspection fee to the city in order to re-rent the suite.

Those who don't comply with the bylaw face a $10,000 fine.

Coquitlam Mayor Jon Kingsbury said it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to deal with each grow op.

"By the time you do the surveillance, the court costs, the incarceration, everything, you're looking at $300,000 per unit," he said.

"And if you start doing the numbers on how many there are out there, you'd fast understand why we don't have the resources to be able to do it."

Many of the measures cities have taken to deal with grow ops involve charging landlords who rent homes out for them.

But most of the recent high-profile busts in the Tri-Cities have been in homes that are owner-occupied, not rented.

Kingsbury said the city could deal with that aspect of the problem by levying fees against homeowners, who would be forced to bring their buildings back up to code before they could be sold.

"If their house is four or five years old, they'd have to rebuild it according to today's standards, and that could cost them a lot of money," Kingsbury said.

"So any changes that have happened to the building code or the plumbing code or the gas codes, we would go back in and re-inspect the house to make sure there's no mould, make sure all of it's brought right up to standard, and that would cost them a lot of money to do that."

While police across the Lower Mainland have been overwhelmed by the number of grow ops in their communities, Coquitlam has fewer resources than some to deal with the issue.

Coquitlam RCMP Cpl. Catherine Galliford said the detachment has a five-member drug section, and a street enforcement unit with about a dozen officers on it. "The drug team targets any drug activity in the community, and the street enforcement unit is there basically for extra bodies," she said, adding that a number of officers on general patrol are also trained in dismantling grow ops and are available to do so on an on-call basis.

Surrey RCMP, which announced a get-tough approach to dealing with grow ops in November via the formation of a 20-officer "Green Team," executed nearly 40 search warrants at newer homes in its first month of operation alone.

Since that team was formed, Surrey has made grow-op headlines less often, while Coquitlam and Port Moody seem to have taken Surrey's place in the spotlight. When asked whether Coquitlam needs a full-time Green Team, Galliford said the city "definitely" has enough grow ops to warrant one.

"Our drug section is obviously attempting to focus on that problem as much as they can, but obviously, they have other investigations ongoing, as well," she said. "So the idea of a full-time Green Team would definitely benefit the Coquitlam detachment, and Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam themselves."

Galliford added that the trend toward grow ops in owner-occupied homes shows no signs of dying out.

"I think we'll definitely be seeing more grow ops in the higher-end communities, as well, the higher-end residential areas," she said.

Coquitlam's administrative services standing committee is expected to discuss the issue of grow-op deterrents at its Feb. 23 meeting, which is open to the public.