Pubdate: Sun, 23 Sep 2007 Source: Burnaby Newsleader (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Burnaby Newsleader Contact: http://www.burnabynewsleader.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1315 Author: Leslie Dickson Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada) BBY GROW-OP STRATEGY IS TAKING TOO LONG: RANKIN Review of City's Approach Still Going on After Two Years Two years after Burnaby council asked staff to review the city's tools to prevent and shut down marijuana grow operations, changes have yet to be made. Coun. Lee Rankin, who requested the review at a Sept. 19, 2005, council meeting, said the process is taking too long. Council passed Rankin's motion two years ago, asking staff to evaluate the bylaws Burnaby had in place to deal with the illegal operations, and to review bylaws other municipal councils had enacted. "I'm very concerned about the length of time we've been working on that," said Rankin. Rankin said he requested the review at about the same time cities like Abbotsford and Surrey were introducing legislation with more teeth to deal with grow-ops, including bylaws to hold landlords more responsible if operations are set up on their property. "We should be proactive and look at the best examples and get working on this," said Rankin. Rankin said property owners need to be held accountable for grow-ops established in their homes due to the associated health and safety risks, including dangerous chemicals used to grow marijuana, and increased occurrences of mould, mildew and fires. Burnaby's failure to introduce tougher bylaws to deal with grow-ops could also be drawing more operators to set up shop in the city, Rankin added. "I'm sure the message is Burnaby is more lax when it comes to cracking down on grow-ops," said Rankin. But Mayor Derek Corrigan said the city is actively working to close the illegal operations. "We're always cracking down on grow-ops," said Corrigan. But Corrigan added drug enforcement is a federal, not a municipal, responsibility. "Generally, we've left the enforcement of grow-ops to the RCMP," said Corrigan. "There have been no requests from the RCMP that they wanted us to do something differently." Dan Mulligan, Burnaby's assistant chief building inspector, said city staff don't go into grow-ops until after RCMP have shut them down, due to safety and staffing concerns. Lou Pelletier, Burnaby's assistant director of long range planning, said the review requested by council two years ago is still underway with city staff examining the city's current zoning and building bylaws' effectiveness in addressing grow operations, reviewing other municipalities' strategies, and consulting with the local RCMP. Pelletier expected the report outlining current policy and suggested changes to go before council by early next year. Pelletier noted a staff member's recent maternity leave delayed the report. Burnaby is also currently without another tool used by other cities to crack down on grow-ops. An amendment made to the provincial Safety Standards Act in April 2006 allows municipalities to find out from BC Hydro which residences are consuming an unusually high amount of electricity, often considered a tell-tale sign of grow operations. BC Hydro spokeswoman Gillian Robinson said high consumption is considered to be 93 kilowatt hours per month or more aE" triple the average residential monthly consumption of about 31 kilowatt hours. Robinson said 14 B.C. municipalities have agreements with the power company to release a list of addresses that have an abnormally high rate of electricity consumption when municipalities request it, including several Metro Vancouver communities: Surrey, Abbotsford, Pitt Meadows, Delta, Coquitlam and West Vancouver. Many of these communities use this information as part of a grow-op eradication strategy, sending teams of fire and bylaw and building inspectors to investigate residences with a suspiciously high level of electrical usage. Cities who have agreements with BC Hydro can also pass on this information to local police and fire departments. Burnaby RCMP strategic communications officer Corp. Jane Baptista said police can only access electrical consumption information from BC Hydro on a single residence basis through the provincial Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Baptista said Burnaby police currently use several different tools to identify and close grow-ops including search warrants and tips from the public. "We welcome any tool that people choose to give us. In the meantime, keep the tips coming," said Baptista. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake