GROW-OP EMBARRASSES COUNCIL

With timing even Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard admitted was
"deliciously ironic," the municipality became the first landlord
affected by its new Controlled Substance Property Bylaw in January.

Just one week after Saanich council drafted a bylaw to make property
owners pay for police, fire and other municipal services if their
tenants convert homes to crystal meth labs or marijuana grow ops,
Saanich's own rental property near Swan Lake became the focus of a
Saanich Police investigation on Jan. 16.

Police seized $50,000 worth of pot plants and equipment.

The tenants, a man and a woman, were arrested.

The controlled substance bylaw was a controversial method for
fighting the growth of grow ops in residential areas.

Community members like landlord Vicki Sanders argued that the bylaw
penalized property owners for the actions of their tenants.

"I was rolling on the floor laughing," said Saanich landlord Vicki
Sanders, who is now a Saanich councillor, when she heard the news
that Saanich municipality was the first to be caught by its own bylaw.

Saanich council decided to make their property a test case for the
law and in the process discovered some impractical clauses including
several fines.

A mellowed Controlled Substance Property Bylaw was passed in May.