Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: Vignette without Comment

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Vignette without Comment

From a woman I know:

"I just read your latest Zonemaven, and with a shiver remembered my 'house' back in 1985.

Six of us shared a house (read 'dump unfit for a family') on High Street just near Laurel Park. We five girls were college students plus our favorite bouncer/bartender who lived downstairs (read 'back porch/unfinished basement'). As you can imagine we had lots of company, some of whom mentioned the frequent aroma of natural gas. I guess I was desensitized to it by living there and never noticed a thing.

Two months after we moved out the house blew up and burned to the ground due to a natural gas explosion. Fortunately no one was living there at the time.

Will nothing will be done about the rooming-house problem until such an event kills a bunch of kids?

Lucky-to-be-alive

L….."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: I'd like to see a post with comments open for "outing" illegal rooming houses by address. Once identified, they can be discussed as desired... landlords, owners, history of issues or not, neighborhood, etc. Just information, which might be enjoyed by others.; March 6, 2008 at 3:54 PM
Anonymous said...: I think that "outing" illegal rooming houses by address is something to consider.I think that identifying the owners and property managers of these properties publicly sounds fair- let these people be publicly exposed for their dishonesty and blatant disregard for the law.; March 6, 2008 at 11:05 PM

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.