Pubdate: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 Source: Cambridge Reporter, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2001 The Cambridge Reporter Contact: http://www.cambridge-reporter.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1470 Author: Mary-Louise Skornyak, The Cambridge Reporter ROYAL BANK PAYS FOR DEMOLITION OF 'POT HOUSE' Bulldozers could raze a local eyesore before the end of the year and city taxpayers won't be on the hook for the bill. The Royal Bank, which holds the deed to 369 Scott Rd. - known locally as the "Pot House" - will be billed $8,900 by the city to demolish the burned-out house in Hespeler's Silverheights neighbourhood. Weather permitting, the building could come down by the end of this month - a year after a fire led to the discovery of a sophisticated indoor marijuana growing operation inside the basement and main floor bedrooms of the raised bungalow located across from Silverheights Public School. "The Royal Bank holds the mortgage. They hold the responsibility, not city taxpayers," Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig said yesterday. However, Craig said it was the city who "pushed and prodded" to get the mortgage company to finally take steps to get the house demolished after the property was taken from the homeowner. Several neighbours contacted by The Reporter yesterday were relieved the abandoned and boarded-up house with broken windows and dangling siding was finally coming down before someone got hurt. And they are glad to have their neighbourhood back, though those reached said they were reluctant to talk publicly about it out of fear because of the home's drug connection. Mayor Craig, who lives in the same neighbourhood, said he'll be happy to see the community residents put the headache behind them. After the Dec. 27, 2000, blaze, Waterloo Regional Police seized 93 marijuana plants worth $68,000, along with pot growing equipment. The fire was linked to a tangle of wiring used in an illegal hydro bypass that provided the growing operation with an unlimited supply of free power. The bypass around the electricity meter helped avoid detection by police. It's a trend found in about 65 other similar illegal marijuana growing operations busted in Waterloo Region in the last two years. Last month a second home, this time in Kitchener, went up in flames in a fire connected to the pot garden growing inside. This week, Cambridge city council followed Kitchener council's lead by advocating maximum sentences for those convicted of operating marijuana home grows. Minh Hai Ta, 54, who was arrested in connection with the Scott Road operation, was sentenced to 20 months of house arrest and required to do 200 hours of community service. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake