Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: Busted in York Neighborhood Rooming House

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Busted in York Neighborhood Rooming House

I received the following from a resident of the York Neighborhood who asked to remain anonymous. (Attention Mr. Pike and City Council Members - such is the lamentable state of affairs in this city that homeowners with complaints are fearful of identifying themselves.)

“Hi. I live in the 1400 block of Franklin St. On November 20th I had to call the police because of loud music…I haven't needed to this before myself. This [house] is a student rental - Adams Property Management. I spoke with these students soon after they moved in about please no loud parties… gave warning about the fines etc. The police did come and made eight arrests. A twenty-one year old for disorderly conduct, furnishing liquor to minors, obstructing, … possession of marijuana and seven arrests for MIP. We've got to some how STOP!! this. I've lived in Bellingham all my life and the more students we get the more wide spread problems.”

While I have no direct confirmation that the individuals involved are students (I will leave that determination to the officials of WWU and anxiously await their report) a Google search of the names in the police report below associated at least two with the university. I have asked the university in a previous blog entry (click here) to sanction off-campus legal offenses by the students, however, I have had no response to my proposal.

In addition, it may be instructive to look at the property management firm (Adams Property Management) which our York homeowner indicates is in charge of this house of questionable repute. The management’s website (click here) laudably announces that their rental houses are not party houses and then states “We have a 10:00pm noise curfew on weekdays and 1:00am on weekends (Friday & Saturday nights).” Excuse me? The Bellingham Municipal Code states that with certain exceptions, the noise ordinance is applicable 24 hours per day. (Check the code by clicking here) By offering its own version of a “noise curfew” this management company is providing a false notion to its renters. It would be better that Adams Property Management give new renters a copy of the relevant portion of the code. I do like the “two strikes and you’re evicted” tolerance level of Adams Property Management, however, it may prove interesting to know the number of times this rule has been applied. Perhaps the company can inform us of their enforcement efforts. Lastly, this management firm’s rental application allows the primary renter to specify up to nine additional residents of the premises. Doh!

Here are the police reports for that evening on Franklin St. (These are posted publicly on the Police Daily Activity Log -click here)

Reported: Nov 20 2007 11:07PM
Location: 1400 BLK FRANKLIN ST
Offense: DISORDERLY CONDUCT
Case #: 07B48894

Officers responded to a loud and disorderly party. The investigation resulted in the following arrests: (A1) was cited by summons for disorderly conduct (loud party), furnishing liquor to minors, obstructing and possession of marijuana under 40 grams (A2) was cited and released for disorderly conduct (loud party), furnishing liquor to minors, minor in possession, and possession of marijuana under 40 grams (A3) was cited and released for disorderly conduct (loud party), furnishing liquor to minors, minor in possession (A4) was cited and released for disorderly conduct (loud party), furnishing liquor to minors, minor in possession, and obstructing See narrative for further details.

Arrested: SCHAEFER, STEWART LEE Age: 21 (DOB: Sep 16 1986 )
Arrested: BIRNEY, ANDREW MATTHEW Age: 20 (DOB: May 28 1987 )
Arrested: LIEBERT, SARA ASHLEY Age: 20 (DOB: Nov 21 1986 )
Arrested: KNOWLES, TAYLOR LINCOLN Age: 20 (DOB: Apr 29 1987 ) Reported: Nov 20 2007 11:07PM
Location: 1400 BLK FRANKLIN ST
Offense: LIQUOR LAW VIOLATION
Case #: 07B48895

(A1) was cited and released for minor in possession of alcohol by consumption.

Arrested: GARDNER, JAMIE ANNE Age: 20 (DOB: Oct 3 1987 ) Reported: Nov 20 2007 11:07PM
Location: 1400 BLK FRANKLIN ST
Offense: LIQUOR LAW VIOLATION
Case #: 07B48896

(A1) was cited for MIP.

Arrested: SANDSTROM, JACQUELINE T Age: 19 (DOB: Apr 21 1988 ) Reported: Nov 20 2007 11:07PM
Location: 1400 BLK FRANKLIN ST
Offense: LIQUOR LAW VIOLATION
Case #: 07B48897

(A1) was cited for MIP.

Arrested: PALMER, LINDEY LOVERNE Age: 18 (DOB: Jul 21 1989 ) Reported: Nov 20 2007 11:07PM
Location: 1400 BLK FRANKLIN ST
Offense: LIQUOR LAW VIOLATION
Case #: 07B49323

Officers responded to the above location for a loud noise complaint.

Arrested: FOOS, CORTNEY LEE Age: 20 (DOB: Jan 27 1987 )

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Can't you handle your problems in a more civilized manor then trying as hard as you can to get young people arrested then posting their names on the internet then trying to make it harder for other young people around Bellingham to find housing?; January 6, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Zonemaven said...: Dear Gavin,

I did nothing to "get young people arrested". They were arrested long before I found the police daily activity report on the incident. I merely repeated the report on my blog. The names were on the Internet already.

As for making it more difficult for young people to find housing, you may wish to ask our city officials the reason for which there is so little affordable housing in Bellingham and for which the city must ignore its own laws in order to house our low-income residents, be they students or others. You may also want to ask the city the reason for which there is no control of the rental housing market, leaving students and low-income workers at risk for their health and safety.; January 7, 2009 at 10:09 AM

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.