By Raymond Mendoza Eastvale – In an effort to combat the growing epidemic of “pot houses” in Eastvale, City Council members held a first reading of Ordinance number 2013-13, which would allow the city to inspect Eastvale rental properties to ensure the properties are not being used for illegal activity. According to the City Council agenda, Ordinance number 2013-13, titled the “Single-Family Residential Rental Registration, Inspection and Crime-Free Rental Housing Program” is meant to crack down on the number of homes being used to illegal marijuana grow house activity by allowing the city to inspect their rented properties to ensure a crime-free environment. Mayor Ike Bootsma stated that the idea behind the registration and inspection act was to ensure the safety of all Eastvale residents, as well as the illegal bypassing of electric meters to obtain stolen electricity. “It’ll bring in better renters and make a safer neighborhood because when (criminals) bypass the Edison meters and things like that, we have fire hazards,” said Bootsma. “One of these days we’re going to have a major problem with a house burning down.” While the safety of Eastvale citizens is a major concern to all members of the council, Council Member Jeff DeGrandpre noted a bit in hesitancy of adopting the ordinance due to the possibility of infringing on the privacy of Eastvale residents who rent their homes. “I want to make sure if we’re doing something like (Ordinance 2013-13), it’s going to have an impact and not break any laws either,” DeGrandpre said. DeGrandpre stated his belief that the Eastvale police are handling the situation with great success and that Ordinance 2013-13 would not be as effective as other City Council members might think. “At this point I’m not convinced that will happen,” said DeGrandpre. “I think our police department is doing a great job of closing (the pot houses) down. I think the word is out that Eastvale is not a place to go (for criminals).” City Manager Carol Jacobs was adamant that the ordinance would not allow city officials to obstruct anyone’s privacy and that inspection requests can be denied by both the renter and landlord. Jacob’s noted that there needs to be a reasonable amount of evidence in order to enforce an inspection and that the process for enforcing an inspection would be similar to a police officer getting a court ordered warrant to search a home. “People have a right to say ‘no’,” said Jacobs. “We’re not going to barge into somebody’s home- we aren’t barging into anywhere. Unless the tenant and or the property owner gives consent for us to do the internal inspection; we will not do the internal inspection.” Jacobs, like Bootsma, also believes that the ordinance’s main goal is to ensure a safe community for all residents of Eastvale and that these inspections could prevent potential fire hazards, theft of electricity, and the illegal, dangerous structural modifications caused by illegal grow house activity. DeGrandpre, who was concerned about the rights of the residents, was the lone vote against imposing the ordinance. “I voted against it because I felt the ordinance wasn’t enough,” he said. “It needs more teeth! It needs more than a renter saying ‘no’ to an inspection.” According to Eastvale Police Sgt. Justin Rowan, the Eastvale Special Enforcement Team have arrested 12 individuals in 2013 as a result of shutting down 22 illegal grow houses. “With the 22 residences we investigated, we’ve seized approximately 10,000 marijuana plants, approximately 200 pounds of processed marijuana and in the course of those investigations we’ve determined that approximately $3.5 million worth of electricity have been stolen related to those investigations,” Rowan said. Within the last two years, 45 grow house operations have been brought down by the Eastvale Police Department and all 45 of those illegal grow houses were rental properties. “This is truly a public safety ordinance,” said Jacobs. “It’s not about stomping on people’s rights or wanting to get into people’s homes: I have no interest in being in people’s homes. I have an interest in stopping illegal activity, dangerous illegal activity, before somebody blows up a residential block…that is the purpose of this ordinance.”