Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: Amicable Jousting on Single Family Zoning

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Amicable Jousting on Single Family Zoning

Councilman Stan Snapp and I are having a kind of written debate on single family zoning on D. J. Gray's Eye on Whatcom forum. Citizen Flat Tire also joins the discussion. Although it may not rise to the level of the seven Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, you can read the zoning discussion by clicking here. We invite you to take part in the conversation. Our council needs your input.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...: I just want to comment on what Stan Snapp said about so few contacting the City Council about the problem of illegial rooming houses. I know that over the past year I have written to them collectivly and to several of them specifically concerning this issue. I have also written Linda Stewart and the Mayor.
I have talked with many people in my neighborhood and at work about this issue. The response that I get is that it doesn't do any good to contact the City Council or the Mayor.Sadly, this seems to be the case.; July 27, 2008 at 10:30 PM
Zonemaven said...: I have heard this same story from many sources. I would encourage you to continue writing to the mayor and the council to voice your concerns. Changes to the single family zoning code will probably come before the council for consideration soon. We need folks like you to send a message to the city officials on the subject. Citizen discouragement and subsequent apathy are our enemies. We elected these officials to listen to us. Shame on us if we do not hold them to their responsibilities.; July 28, 2008 at 8:57 AM
Anonymous said...: Anonymous is correct about the indifference of city council. Not only the current council but previous ones just pushed the matter of illegal rooming houses onto a city hall back burner and did nothing to halt the certain and visual deterioratiuon of multi rentals in single family districts. You would think council would clearly see what the future has in store when they fail to get active on the now arrived downgrading that has intruded into so many areas.

It is baffling why any person of moderate intelligence cannot see the certainty of district depreciation that has beset bellingham and is increasing.

There is no justification for packing transient youth into family districts because this moves the burden onto the citizen home owners instead of causing pressure at the university to show some responsibility toward the hundreds of students who pay their executive salaries and college costs with their tuition fees. They should be FORCED into providing more reasonably priced bedrooms NOT encouraged to do nothing because council messes around with stopgap measures that are a severe detriment to respectable home owner/occupiers

Today you may not be a victim of the "packing" of residences but tomorrow look out Hundreds more students are coming maybe to a house near you. THEN you'll get concerned and in quick time you'll realize you should have spoken out to your indifferent council while the matter was under discxussion.; July 30, 2008 at 9:55 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.