City steps up fight against pot shops
The city continues to ramp up its legal fight against illegal marijuana dispensaries and plans to seek court injunctions against an additional 38 pot shop operators and their landlords.
A week ago, the city announced it filed the necessary paperwork in BC Supreme Court to seek injunctions against 17 pot shop operators who continue to operate in defiance of the city’s new business licence regulations.
“We’re serious,” said Andreea Toma, the city’s chief licensing inspector.
But that seriousness will have to be tested in the courts and could take some time before hearing dates are scheduled. An injunction would give the city a court order to force an operator to shut down a dispensary.
If an operator dismissed the order, the city could then go back to court and seek to have the operator hit with heavy fines or even jailed. Though the city has been issuing tickets to operators, the court action includes the city going after landlords.
For example, court documents filed by the city against the BC Pain Society at 2908 Commercial Dr. include operator Chuck Varabioff, his numbered company (1018580 BC Ltd.) and landlords Michael and Tatyana Gertsoyg.
“It’s their responsibility to ensure that who they have in their commercial space is required to have a business licence,” Toma said.
Varabioff said he wasn’t aware his landlords were named in the documents. He called it a “scare tactic” and said the Gertsoygs support him “a million per cent.”
Late last year, the city informed Varabioff and dozens of other dispensary operators to close their doors by April 29. The deadline came after the society lost a Board of Variance appeal to remain open. Varabioff has since requested a judicial review of the board’s decision. Meanwhile, he continues to operate his pot shop and the city issued him nine $250 tickets for operating without a business licence.
“I figured once they filed the injunction, that’s it and then we’d wait for the courts to decide it,” he said. “But, no, they came in every single day last week and they ticketed me.”
–Mike Howell, Vancouver Courier
Another record month for real estate sales
The real estate market across Metro Vancouver continues to break records, and the number of homes sold last month reached the highest level ever seen in the month of May, according to new Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) data.
A total of 4,769 homes changed hands in May, which is a 17.6 per cent jump compared with the 4,056 homes sold in May 2015 and 35.3 per cent above the 10-year average. It is down 0.3 per cent compared with April, however, when 4,781 homes were sold. The benchmark sales price reached $889,100, up 29.7 per cent compared with a year ago.
“Home sellers are becoming more active in recent months, although that activity is being outpaced by home buyer demand today,” said REBGV president Dan Morrison. “Economic and job growth in Metro Vancouver is outperforming most regions in the country. This is helping to underpin today’s activity.”
For detached properties alone, the benchmark price increased 36.9 per cent year-over-year, reaching $1,513,800. West Vancouver had the highest benchmark sales price in the region at $3,442,100, which is an increase of 34.7 per cent over the past year. A total of 1,865 homes of this type were sold across Greater Vancouver in the month, which was up 8.2 per cent compared with 12 months ago.
–Emma Crawford Hampel, Business in Vancouver
