Wednesday, August 22, 2007

In for the Long Term

From a reader earlier this week:

“To start, I would like to answer a couple of question raised within earlier comments. I have live in Bellingham since the 40's, so feel I have right to comment. Secondly, I don't care what color, age, gender you are. If you are violating the city code of 'no more then 3 non-blood related' (marriage not included) living within a single family resident, within a zoned R-1, Single Family Residential Neighborhood, you are in violation. Families chose to move into a single family residential area for obvious reasons. They want a safe, quiet neighborhood to live and raise their family. Who is going to purchase a home next to a rooming house where the tenants have no respect for the neighborhood or residents, care less what their rooming houses looks like, no respect for speed limits, generally a just let me live my life attitude. Knowing they will only be there a short period of time. What does this do to a neighborhood? Devalues other properties for one thing. Stress out the REAL families trying to live a normal life. The city of Bellingham offers multi use neighborhoods with apt, true boarding house, as the college offers Dorm rooms. Don't destroy a neighborhood for you own selfish needs and desires. We, the neighbors, are here long term, this is our home, your short term bed.”

My reaction:

I too believe that we should be able to move into a single family zoned neighborhood (like the ones that are mentioned in the neighborhood plans all the associations are working on at this moment) and find there single family homes and not rooming houses. Nor should we fear creation of a rooming house next door once we have bought a home.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There just has to be more rights to protect homeowners. Shortly after I bought my first house at age 50 of saving & saving. The 5 bed room house next to me was a rental & a safe house for people crossing the border to hide out.
Sometimes more than 30 people @ a time. (I live in the middle of the US). After a year of little sleep & damage to my property the owner sold it to a real estate company that rents. This was worse if it can be..Drug dealers moved in & I was threatened that if I turned them in there would be nothing left of my home. I am this tiny little 50 year old woman. Several bounty hunters have come to my door looking for different ones living in there but with no sucess. Now there is a well known gang member bunch in there as well. I am scared! I work all day & sometimes when I come home I can't even get to my drive way. The noise is so loud at nights, my property is trashed. Family & friends won't even come over any more because of the "RENTERS". I tryed to sell it but potential buyers won't even get out & look @ my house when they see this bunch carousing around, or all the beer cans. The rest of the neighborhood around my house is nice, my other fellow home owners are just as afraid. The police say untill they do something physical to one of us there is nothing they can do. I called the realestate company that is renting it & they have told us that we don't have enough money to make them comply with any city regulations. We called the city & the city claims they do not have the time to verify facts. I have taken pictures & video & its as if that has no effect on getting some action. As far as the drugs & gangs go the attitude seems to be that this is considered normal daily life & to just live with it.
I can't sell it, I can't live in it, & I can't rent it & I have no where to go. So it would be nice to know what you are suspoto to do?? I will either end up murdered by this rental or I am getting to the point I would like to find a way to do away with them. 5 years of this my once nice property is destroyed, yard fences & all. I tryed to sue the real estate company for a new fence with my videos but the real estate compay said I had no way of really proving those were not friends of the tennants. So here we are....& I know I am not the only home owner that is living with this. I usto love to garden & paint but after 1 summer of harrasment while working in my yard about ended that. They are 10 feet from the north side of my house window & I have nighmares of when they come crashing through. Now they have a pit bull. Its just a matter of time any more, watch the news you may see me on it somtime, but I do not think I will be alive. Why is it hopeless??? Don't home owners deserve better???????????????