Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: New WWU President to Attempt Dance with 800 Pound Gorilla

Sunday, April 27, 2008

New WWU President to Attempt Dance with 800 Pound Gorilla

We will soon see if the new WWU president will be able to lead that 800 pound gorilla-on-the-hill in a community dance. Will he be Fred leading Ginger? Or will he be Gene, dancing alone in the rain? To ensure he is aware of some of the dance routines in Bellingham, I wrote an email to the incoming WWU President, Dr. Bruce Shepard, last week. After a few introductory remarks, I said, “You will have a lot on your plate when you arrive here, not least of which is repairing relationships with the community. Much of the problem stems from the lack of student housing and an uncontrolled rental market here (dominated by students) about which WWU has chosen to do little over the years. Although the city has been lax in its enforcement of zoning codes, the overwhelming numbers and the behavior of WWU students have had a profound effect on the single family neighborhoods to the detriment of the quality of life and the value of homes of our hard working citizens.” I also included the text of a letter that I sent to the presidential search committee several months ago. You can read my blog entry on that letter by clicking here.

Another friend and concerned citizen also wrote to Dr. Shepard and said, in part:

“I realize you will have many "top" priorities on your plate and will get many more in the coming weeks and months to come. I would ask you to save a spot on "the plate" for an "illegal rooming house" issue hotly contested by single family neighborhoods in Bellingham. This problem is not just in the University's immediate area, but growing throughout the city. The character and property values of those affected are being drastically affected! I live 3 miles from the campus and "illegal rooming houses" are invading our area with negative impacts.

Many residents feel the University has only give lip service to this problem. No on-campus housing has been built for many years, though the campus population has risen dramatically over the past 10 - 15 years. Most institutions of higher learning in Washington have been very proactive concerning this problem in their respective communities; except for Western. I hope you will work to change this fact and help resolve the "illegal rooming house" problem here in Bellingham.”

Dr. Shepard acknowledged my message by saying, “Thanks, Richard, for the welcome, congrats, and thoughtful introduction to what is a complicated issue.” And to my friend he wrote, “…thanks for taking time to share the background on the housing issues.”

You can reach Dr. Shepard at his office in Green Bay at shepardb@uwgb.edu. I encourage you to write to him about this pressing issue so that it is placed on his dance card immediately.

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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.