Riverside residents are demanding the city take immediate action and shut down a medical marijuana grow-op in their neighbourhood.
In 2013, when a home in the 6000 block of Thorne Avenue was sold, residents along the small block, Tucked between Marine Way and Marine Drive, took notice. While the property was quiet for some time, by November, the wheels were already in motion for the construction of a marijuana production facility, the NOWhas learned.
According to City of Burnaby records, staff approved a building permit for a $75,000 farm building on the property. The permit states the building must comply with the National Farm Building Code of Canada, established in 1995.
But the farm building that started to take shape in February 2014 didn’t quite fit what neighbours believed a farm building should look like.
Gino D’Onofrio lives next door and had his suspicions from the get-go.
First of all, the farm building takes up nearly the entire back portion of the lot, which is skinnier than most in the area, measuring only about 15.5 metres wide by 82 metres long, according to B.C. Assessment.
Second, the building looks more like an industrial shed than a farm building. It’s made entirely of metal, along the roof there are several exhaust pipes and mushroom vents, and there are no windows.
But what really sparked D’Onofrio’s concern was when an unusually high chain-link fence was erected around the entire property, six surveillance cameras were installed on different points of the residence, and a fiery German shepherd was brought in to patrol the front gate.
D’Onofrio contacted the City of Burnaby.
Staff told him the residents were growing bonsai trees and orchids (the NOWwas also told this initially), but D’Onofrio didn’t believe that. He visited a nearby orchid farm and could tell right away that whatever his neighbours were growing, it wasn’t orchids.
D’Onofrio has many concerns about the medical marijuana grow-op, including the environmental impact of the run-off from the facility, his loss of privacy thanks to the surveillance cameras, the pungent smell that wafts through the area, neighbourhood safety and the devaluation of surrounding properties.
“(The city) should get them to dismantle the thing completely and get it out of the way. That way there won’t be anymore temptation for them to grow,” he said. “Things should go back to normal.”
But it won’t be that easy.
Burnaby RCMP confirmed it has received complaints about the property and is continuing to investigate the matter.
“We are also working in partnership with the City of Burnaby to address issues at the residence,” Staff Sgt. Maj. John Buis told the NOW.
At this time, criminal charges are unlikely unless police determine federal statutes have been broken or something criminal is or has taken place, Buis added.
But by growing medical marijuana, the property owner has contravened city bylaws, according to Clayton Hall, manager of licensing and regulatory bylaws with the city.
During a second interview with the NOW,Hall confirmed the property is being used to grow medical marijuana, contravening the zoning bylaw.
Hall said the next step is enforcement action.
“We would go forward usually with either verbal or written confirmation to the property owner, outlining and identifying the contraventions are taking place, identify the zoning and what’s allowed on the property and what’s not allowed, and give them the opportunity to bring the property in compliance,” he said.
The property is zoned A2, a small holdings district, and allows for most agriculture uses, including farming, gardening, orchard or nursery cultivation, and greenhouses. Growing medical marijuana is not a permitted use, and the city is handling this case as it would any other, Hall said.
“It’s a property misuse, and things don’t always happen as quickly as we’d like them to, but like I said, our No. 1 thing is voluntary compliance, and so we always give the property owner the opportunity to bring the property in compliance,” he said.
If the property owner doesn’t make the necessary changes, the city will send a second letter, likely threatening bylaw enforcement action, and if he or she still doesn’t comply with the city’s orders, staff will forward the case to either an in-house or third-party lawyer, Hall added.
This process, however, is too slow for D’Onofrio. He and his neighbours want the city to take immediate action, he told the NOW.
“If the City of Burnaby doesn’t act quickly and decisively on this issue, or if it sweeps it under the carpet, it will be defined morally bankrupt by the residents of this area,” D’Onofrio said. “Its integrity will be tarnished and severely compromised.”
The NOWmade several attempts at contacting the property owner and tenants at the centre of this issue but never heard back.
A request for information under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act was sent to the City of Burnaby and is due on Jan. 13.
Watch for more on the story in future editions and at www.burnabynow.com.
Follow Cayley Dobie on Twitter, @cayleydobie.
