Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: Meeting with Neighborhood Services Coordinator

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Meeting with Neighborhood Services Coordinator

I met with the relatively new Neighborhood Services Coordinator, Linda Stewart, today to present the issue of illegal rooming houses as I see it and as it has been presented in this blog since last July. During our 45 minute meeting, I was able to provide not only my personal experiences with illegal rooming houses on my street but also my experience with the complaint process within the city government. We also spoke about the role of WWU in housing its students in a manner which promotes their safety and the character of the neighborhoods in which they live during their years at the university. Ms. Stewart seemed to be an open and engaged individual who has learned quite a bit about the subject of illegal rooming houses in the short time since she took over her position last October. Although I was not looking to forge agreements with her on all the topics associated with single family zoning, I was able to discern that she was someone with whom the citizens of Bellingham can do business.

Ms. Stewart is a member of the group looking at means to implement the current municipal code on single family zoning. This group was formed after a motion by the City Council last October 8th (initiated by Terry Bornemann) "to prepare a pilot program regarding enforcement of complaints relating to more than three unrelated individuals living in a home." I did learn that recommendations to the Council and the Mayor will probably be forwarded within a few weeks after which time they will make decisions with respect to the avenue to be followed.

This is some of the most encouraging news to come from City Hall in a long time.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Hi Dick. I'm a WWU student and I'd like you to hear what happened to the house I live in with 4 other guys. In August of 2006, I rented a nice 3 bedroom house with 2 other guys. It was great, we had plenty of space and our place looked like every other house on the block.
In August 2007, our lease was up, and our landlord (LAKEWAY REALTY), informed us that the house was being converted to a 5 bedroom and our rent was going up if we stayed. We agreed to stay and find two more guys. In late August they converted the dining room and front room into bedrooms. This year
our garage is full of junk because we lost the common space. We have to park 5 cars outside. If the girls are over we have 7 cars. We have one garbage can that is always overflowing. We run out of hot water every morning. This sucks. We did not want to live like this. Some greedy landlord is ruining the neighborhood for an extra $600 a month. I'm tired of people blaming us. I know the neigbors hate it. The problem is the landlord. I wish the City would crack down.; January 15, 2008 at 9:43 PM
Anonymous said...: Dear WWU Student-

It doesn't suprise me that Lakeway Realty would do this. Look at just about every rental they own in the York Neighborhood (9+), and you'll see this pattern.

The house we own and occupy is sandwiched between 2 rental properties. Both landlords keep these places tidy and take care of the maintenance when needed. The tenants at both properties are happy and don't cause an ounce of trouble. I think there's a real correlation here..; January 16, 2008 at 7:19 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.