Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: Enhancing Code Violation Enforcement

Friday, August 22, 2008

Enhancing Code Violation Enforcement

The fourth leg of the City Council’s six-legged stool on single family zoning issues is enhancing enforcement of code violations, AKA the upgrading of the Litter Control Officer position. (You can read about the first three by clicking here, here and here) This leg was designed well ahead of the thought that it might one day become one of six attached to a broad stool but, no matter, it has taken time to develop. Terry Bornemann asked for a pilot program to enforce the single family zoning code on the 8th of October 2007.

In February 2008, he and the other council members received a Goldilocks version of this from staff who presented it as three choices regarding hiring another code enforcement officer (too expensive), adding duties to the current Code Enforcement Officer position (too burdensome), adding duties to the existing Litter Officer position (just right?). As the newly appointed Chief of Police, Todd Ramsay was charged with putting this all together since the Litter Control Officer (who was then paid totally by Public Works) was already under the operational control of the police department.

Given the bureaucratic rope pushing that he encountered, it was not until July that the City Council was able to approve the newly engineered position. Change comes slowly in these here parts, pardner. So almost a year later, we are at a point of beginning to investigate “violations of city code related to concerns such as litter, noise, parking, and habitation.” (quote is from Agenda Bill 018039 – click here to read the bill) Now the newly coined position of Neighborhood Compliance Officer is ready to hit the road “to conduct interviews and provide education about the codes to neighborhood residents with the goal being nuisance abatement, rather than punishment.” (also from Agenda Bill 018039) We seem to be in a perpetual state of education here. At some point, the education has to be tested, a type of WASL for landlords and tenants. As a homeowner, who prided himself on engaging with and educating the residents of illegal rooming houses on his street for years, said to me, “I am tired of training these puppies.”

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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.