Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: Hoist by One's Own Petard

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Hoist by One's Own Petard

Several nights ago a group of renters were robbed at gunpoint in their house in the 100 block of 44th St. Click here to read the Herald article on the crime. Since I am a BlockWatch Captain for the 100 blocks of 46th and 47th Streets, I was more than casually interested in an armed home robbery that took place only one block from my home. Under the provisions of the Revised Code of Washington 42.56, I requested a copy of the police report (Number 08B13158) on the incident so that I could advise the members of my BlockWatch on the details of the robbery. Although the police were called to investigate a robbery, they soon found that the residents were in possession of several bags of marijuana which were impounded. During the course of the investigation, the residents identified themselves as roommates - all five of them. The home is owned by a woman who's address in on Raymond St. here in Bellingham. I began to wonder if she knew that her home had become an illegal rooming house and was used as a place to consume drugs. A search of property records on the website of the Whatcom County Assessor's Office revealed that the single family home has only 3 bedrooms which makes one wonder why it has apparently been rented to five single persons. In any event, now armed with a police report indicating that the home is occupied by more than three unrelated people, I filed a code enforcement complaint with the Permit Office. It will be interesting to see the manner in which the Permit Office will investigate the complaint which is primarily based on a police report in which the occupants have already admitted the violation.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: For years My efforts to get action on student occupants of a neighboring property were rejected on the basis (the city said) of difficulty of proof.

I know a year or so ago 5 tickets were issued to my (then) neighbors which would seem absolute evidence of 5 leasers.

The zonemaven however has done what I did not and in filing a report has sort of socked it to the department who now do not have the "difficulty" rationale.

Interesting to see if the city cares about zone violations because now they have a cut and dried case to pursue, unburdened by a need to prove anything. Its all in the police report.; April 13, 2008 at 9:05 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.