Maple Ridge is arming itself to fight an invasive plant that some say can ruin infrastructure and cost millions of dollars.
District staff want to add Japanese knotweed to its list of noxious weeds that are part of its Untidy and Unsightly Premises Bylaw. Staff also want to allow bylaw officers to mail clean-up orders for empty lots where there is no building on which to post a notice, instead of the present system, for which notices are left unsecured or outside buildings.
A staff report says there has been a “serious rise in the presence of Japanese knotweed.”
The species is invasive and must be controlled. It is now found all along Lougheed Highway.
Adding Japanese knotweed to the list will allow the district to order that it be removed from a property.
Council will consider the changes at a future meeting after reading a report at its committee meeting Monday.
Last year, eradication crews from the Invasive Species Council of Metro Vancouver worked to contain the spread of Japanese knotweed along Lougheed Highway in Pitt Meadows, as well as Kanaka Creek Regional Park.
To kill the plant, eradication crews must inject a herbicide called glyphosate, the active ingredient in Round-Up. Smaller plants require targeted spraying.
Last year, an infestation of Japanese knotweed was discovered splitting concrete in the footings of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and infesting a section of the Highway 1 expansion project in Burnaby.
– staff reporter