Twilight Zoning in Bellingham: Rental Ordinance Proposal Possibly Before City Council

Friday, April 11, 2014

Rental Ordinance Proposal Possibly Before City Council - 21 April

The City Council is likely to have a proposal on rental health and safety from the Mayor for consideration and discussion at the 1030am Planning Committee meeting on 21 April. As with all agenda items, the public will not see the proposal until the council meeting agenda appears on 17 April. As usual, last minute agenda modifications could throw the rental ordinance proposal into a later council session. The next available council meeting would be on 5 May.

According to Jack Weiss, the head of the Planning Committee, "This meeting will be for presentation and an introductory line of questions by the committee only." This is not an unusual way of business but I would like to see eventually the public providing input during the committee's work sessions as was done last year when the council was debating a proposal from Councilman Weiss.

Earlier this year, the Mayor and her staff presented the outline of a rental inspection and "registration" program that received a lot of negative feedback. I reviewed that proposed framework in a blog entry in early February entitled "Mayor's Rental Health and Safety Proposal Inadequate." Fortunately, that proposal met some opposition and the Mayor and her staff went back to the drawing board. Without going into details, any proposal that does not contain an active program of periodic inspections of rentals by the city is a problematic exercise. Complaint-based systems simply do not work. We know that through a CDC study and, moreover, by sad experience here in Bellingham where the present complaint-based system is a dismal failure.

In an email to Councilman Weiss I lamented the timing of the Mayor's submission. This serious effort to produce an ordinance comes up in late spring and summer, just as the academic year ends and the largest represented group of renters leaves town. I wrote:

"This [the timing] deprives them [students] of a voice at a most critical moment and it deprives the mayor and the council of valuable feedback from the very people who will have to live with the consequences of whatever is brought forward.

Consequently, I would recommend that you continue the practice from previous Planning Committee meetings at which you welcomed comments from the public during the committee work sessions. At least this will provide some opportunity for students and their reps to front load their views on whatever proposal is brought forward before final exams and the summer are upon them."

In any event, keep the date "21 April" open for the committee meeting at 10:30am in City Council chambers. I will provide my readers a copy of the agenda bill on rentals next Thursday.

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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.