Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: Planning Director Remains Off-Course

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Planning Director Remains Off-Course

While I was travelling the past ten days, an article by Tim Stewart, the Director of Planning for our fair city appeared in the Bellingham Herald. (click here to read the article). Although I have asked several times in this blog (click here and here and here) for comments from Mr. Stewart and the Mayor regarding control of the illegal rooming houses throughout the city, neither has replied in a substantial form. To his credit, albeit tardily, the Mayor did proffer remarks at a recent City Council meeting to the effect that the current city code on single family zoning did not rise to the level of “unconstitutionality”, a line of pap which had been fed to homeowners for lo these many years. Mr. Stewart’s article is the closest manifestation of a response from him to date, however, his words do not indicate an appreciation of the silent infill in the form of illegal rooming houses in areas specifically zoned single family residential (read low density). This insidious process has already changed for the worse the character of many neighborhoods but you cannot garner that from his comments. When will the Director of Planning speak to the issue?

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The Rationale for Rental Licensing

There is the definitive experience of cities that have already adopted rental licensing and inspections in the face of exactly the same opposition as we saw in Bellingham over the last decade. Ultimately, each of these cities was proven correct in its resolve to move ahead to protect the safety and health of the renters. We already know that the city of Pasco, WA found that 15% of the units inspected under their program had serious life/safety issues. 10% had mold problems. A full 85% had problems of varying degrees. The city of Gresham, OR performed over 1600 inspections in 2009 and issued, as a result, over 4,000 citations. Lexington, KY performed inspections of units near the University of Kentucky and found that 50% had life/safety issues. Sacramento, CA began an inspection program during which one third of the units inspected had serious safety and health issues. The question why does anyone believe that the condition of rental housing here in Bellingham does not mirror that which is found in cities that have the statistics to show that time and time again the condition of rentals in our cities is problematic? All we have had to date from those who oppose licensing are broad statements by the landlords and their paladins that are completely and utterly unsubstantiated. The Zonemaven has searched in vain for the horror stories that these opponents of licensing and inspections have predicted. On the other hand, The Zonemaven did find over 100 cities that have licensing AND inspections without the catastrophic effect for the rental markets that the landlords would have you believe. (See this blog's sidebar at bottom left for list)

One Reason Illegal Rooming Houses Do Not Work

The limit for unrelated persons at a single family home rental is three residents. Leases are signed by three people who then invite additional renters to join them to lower per capita rental rates. The perverse effect is that rental rates tend to rise under these circumstances making it difficult for single families to rent single family homes. Some local rental agencies facilitate this practice.

"To say that a family is so equivalent to a ragtag collection of college roommates as to require identical treatment in zoning decisions defies the reality of the place of the family in American society, despite any changes that institution has undergone in recent years. Only the most cynical among us would say that the American family has devolved to the point of no greater importance or consideration in governmental decision making than a group of college roommates." (Stegeman v. City of Ann Arbor)

That being said, accommodation ought to be made for protected classes, especially non-traditional unions and group houses for the disabled. These classes are laid out in federal and Washington State law.