Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: Fresh Start with New WWU President?

Monday, January 14, 2008

Fresh Start with New WWU President?

The following appeared in the 13 January edition of the Bellingham Herald.

“Members of the public will gather at the Bellingham Public Library Tuesday [15 Jan] to discuss what qualities they’d like to see in the next president of Western Washington University.

President Karen W. Morse has announced she’ll retire from WWU on Sept. 1, after 15 years. Among the questions to consider are the challenges and opportunities facing the next president, what must he or she accomplish and what personal characteristics and professional qualifications are desirable.

The meeting, led by former WWU President Kenneth Mortimer, will be at 7 p.m. in the library’s lecture room, 210 Central Ave.

For more information on the presidential search or to submit feedback, go to http://www.wwu.edu/president”

Those concerned with WWU’s inaction with regard to addressing the housing issues for present or future students may wish to attend this meeting. The next WWU president should understand and speak to the manner in which the university will finally step up to the plate. Although the presence of over 12,000 students is not the only cause of the existence of illegal rooming houses in Bellingham, it remains the largest contributor to the population which inhabits these illegal, uncontrolled, unlicensed and, otherwise unrestricted rentals. The new president should be aware of the dangers posed to university students who live in single family homes, in contravention of city code, where safety checks are never made and overcrowding is not regulated. I have addressed these issues in various ways over the past 6 months. Click here, here, here and here to read my previous comments.

If you cannot attend the meeting, I urge you to voice your concerns to the search committee by sending an email to Presidential.Search@wwu.edu. You can read more at the presidential search web page at: http://www.wwu.edu/presidentsearch/.

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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.