Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: WWU - Huxley Mudslide Inevitable?

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

WWU - Huxley Mudslide Inevitable?

The WWU version of the California mudslide was updated on 11 March at the university campus. Various means of financing were presented by Stratus, the outfit providing oversight of the glissade of WWU down the hill and to the waterfront. You can read the report on the meeting in the Bellingham Herald by clicking here. (Update on "click" option: The Herald now requires registration to access certain pages and stories on its website.)

I attended this WWU/Stratus presentation and was particularly struck by the hesitancy voiced by a member of the Huxley College faculty, one of few who raised any serious doubts as to the inevitability of the move. As reported by the Herald, “Huxley associate professor John McLaughlin urged administrators Tuesday to make sure Huxley’s new waterfront campus is readily accessible to pedestrians, cyclists and bus riders who will need to get back and forth to the main campus. McLaughlin said Huxley faculty members agree their existing facilities are unsatisfactory, but have questions about environmental cleanup, earthquake safety and transportation issues on the waterfront."

I was surprised by the utter absence of any discussion of the locations at which these additional Huxley students (500 by some estimates) will reside. Given the mission of the college, to wit, “The Huxley College of the Environment mission is to pursue programs of environmental education, research, and community service that reflect the broadest possible view of humans in a physical, biological, social and cultural world.”, one would have surmised that housing all of these newcomers would also have been a concern.

Then I thought of the homeowners of the Lettered Streets and Columbia neighborhoods whose properties abut the academic wedge which is about to be broken from Sehome Hill and to land at water’s edge. These property owners should prepare for the onslaught of renters who will find the proximity to Huxley-on-the-Bay an enchanting prospect and landlords who will find stuffing those residences with as many occupants as possible an equally captivating possibility. Given non-enforcement of the city codes regarding single family zoning, these neighborhoods have an interesting future.

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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.