tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79442445588068772092024-03-12T19:33:23.437-07:00Twilight Zoning in BellinghamHEALTH AND SAFETY; More than 50% of Bellingham's housing stock are rentals, yet no program exists to ensure the health and safety of renters. Bellingham should have an ordinance that will protect renters.
ZONING ENFORCEMENT: Additionally, by ignoring its own zoning codes, the Bellingham city government has turned neighborhoods into rooming house districts. You can demand the enforcement of zoning codes, too.Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.comBlogger321125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-58746043915960262982017-01-24T13:42:00.002-08:002017-01-24T13:44:24.475-08:00The Unconscionable State of Our Rentals - Part II<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5blbG6sUPNQ/WIewbAnkuxI/AAAAAAAAAwE/RzrHZcqbissRiRPXnxEFnZ0lLj9HAVrogCLcB/s1600/P1030892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5blbG6sUPNQ/WIewbAnkuxI/AAAAAAAAAwE/RzrHZcqbissRiRPXnxEFnZ0lLj9HAVrogCLcB/s320/P1030892.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Failed Rental in York Neighborhood - Conditions Existed in 2011</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<i>[This article first appeared at <a href="http://nwcitizen.com/entry/the-unconscionable-state-of-our-rentals-part-ii" target="_blank">NWCitizen</a>] </i><br />
<br />
At the 18 January meeting of the Mayor’s Neighborhood Advisory Commission,
Bellingham Planning Director Rick Sepler provided some preliminary figures
relating to the rental inspections now drawing to a close in the York
Neighborhood. Of 575 units, he reported that 512 had been inspected and 448 had
passed - a whopping 87%. <b>But these figures are misleading </b>since there
are no data for the number of units that failed the first-time inspection.
Without these numbers, we cannot arrive at an accurate picture of the state of
our rentals prior to the primary inspection. Second and third inspections serve
only to ensure compliance and eventually increase the number of units that no
longer have severe deficiencies. The arrow of inspections always points to
nearly a 100% pass rate. However, the statistics in the Sehome Neighborhood
inspections revealed a 50% failure rate the first time around. It is that
figure we are lacking for the York inspections.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://nwcitizen.com/entry/the-unconscionable-state-of-our-rentals" target="_blank">In an earlier article</a>, I explained the city’s first attempt
to inform the City Council by leaving out the first inspection failure rate.<br />
<br />
“Before the committee of the whole of the Bellingham City Council on 26
September, the planning director presented a “correction” to the figures on the
pass/fail rate of rental units inspected over the previous three months in the
Sehome neighborhood. In fact, the figures presented differed little from
previous reports. (see my prior column on these statistics <a href="http://nwcitizen.com/entry/misleading-report-on-rental-inspection-results/writer/22"><b>here</b></a>)
The new figures were 242 passed and 239 failed <b>with a fail rate of 50%. </b>[The
minor differences from previous figures of 231 and 237 respectively are due to
constant updates as new units are inspected each day.] The director’s report <a href="http://nwcitizen.com/entry/misleading-report-on-rental-inspection-results/writer/22">(see
pie chart</a>) goes on to say that after a <b>SECOND</b> inspection, another
142 units passed. The claim then was that 80% of our rental stock inspected to
date passed! Woohoo! This is true but terribly misleading since the initial
failure rate was 50%. With the logic of the pie chart pictured above, the
passing on a second inspection of the remaining 95 failed units would bring the
failure rate for our rental stock to 0% when, in fact, <b>the initial go around
was a miserable 50% pass rate demonstrating the true condition of the rental
units before any inspections whatsoever</b>. This wretched failure rate should
bring a collective gasp of dumbfoundedness to the city of Bellingham.”<br />
<br />
I have asked the city’s planning department for the first round York
inspection failure rate, however as of the publication of this article, I have
received no further information.<br />
<br />
As for the failed rental in the York Neighborhood pictured above, <b>I have
included below some photos I
took in the interior of the home five years ago</b>. The tenant (since moved)
was living there with his wife and their newborn. The place was infested with
rats and the landlord blamed the tenants for bringing the rats with them when
they moved in. At least that problem seems to have been fixed in the last five
years but here is the report of the failed inspection on this rental just a few
weeks ago:<b><i> “several switch and receptacle covers missing in basement 2 -
open breaker knockouts in panel 3 - exposed/unprotected wiring in basement 4 -
light at rear entrance near parking”. </i></b>Exactly what I photographed in
2011.<br />
<br />
As in my earlier article, here are a few more descriptive elements taken at
random from the inspection report log of the city [<b>bolding </b>mine]: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>“cover plate on receptacle in laundry room 2 - toilet loose,seal at base 3 -
seal at floor near shower 4 - two upstairs windows not sealing out elements,
appear to be wrong size 5 - <b>tenants do not have keys to property, unable to
lock doors</b> 6 - <b>several loose bricks at chimney above walkway on side of
house </b>7 - provide high contrast address numbers 8” </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
<i>“weather seal exterior doors locks on ground floor Windows 2 - provide
ventilation in kitchen 3 - seal vinyl near toilet in bedroom 4 - large fall
risk at crawl space access, no guard, no rail, 4’ fall, large opening in floor
5 - cap furnace vent 6 - <b>chimneys deteriorated, mortar joints deteriorated,
leaning, located above walkways and venting appliances </b>7 - lighting at rear
porch 8 - guard at front steps 9 - porch guard loose”</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
<i>“provide locks on ground floor Windows (two Windows) 2 - guard at rear
basement entry 3 - provide knob at laundry door 4 - basement access from
kitchen area: <b>access stairs too steep, fall risk at >30”</b>, water lines
exposed, no handrail/guard on one side, handrail loose/ineffective 5 - <b>inadequate
combustion air in furnace room </b>6 - provide smoke/CO alarm in lower level 7
- cover laundry duct terminal” </i></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>“window not lockable, kitchen, bathroom and front bedroom 2 - provide
non-porous surface behind kitchen sink 3 - large openings to foundation,
openings in structure to inside of dwelling 4 -<b> evidence of rodent activity
around property, in openings to crawlspace 5 - garbage accumulated around
property and under house”</b></i><b> </b></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>“light switch in one room hanging from wiring, not mounted 2 - <b>toilet not
secured to floor, leaking at base, running constantly (main level)</b> 3 - seal
at tub/wall, tub/floor (both levels) 4 - <b>wiring worn through sheathing at
water heater, unprotected</b> 5 - open receptacle box near rear of basement 6 -
one smoke alarm per bedroom and in hallway in immediate vicinity 7 - one smoke
alarm per level 8 - one CO alarm per level 9 - front door knob not secure 10”</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>“provide high contrast address numbers facing street seal at base of tub
where wood trim is exposed to water 2 - <b>seal openings in flooring in upper
level bathroom </b>3 - downstairs bedroom has exposed wiring in light fixture,
missing receptacle plates 4 - downstairs bedroom windows do not meet egress
requirements 5 - <b>downstairs toilet not secured to floor, not sealed at base</b>
6 - no trap at clothes washer standpipe 7 - open plumbing under bench in
laundry area 8 - open knockouts in breaker panel 9 - <b>unterminated/unprotected/exposed
wiring near panel</b> 10 - broken light fixtures with exposed wiring near
laundry 11 - <b>no CO alarm in basement 12 - gas appliance mechanical area open
to basement bedroom 13 - wiring connections/splices made outside of junction
boxes</b></i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
<b> </b><i>“3 window locks on ground level 2 - open junction box near laundry 3 -
open junction boxes in basement 4 - <b>basement is specifically disallowed to
be a sleeping room </b>5 - one smoke alarm in upstairs middle room 6 - storm
window covering one sleeping room egress window 7 - dryer ducts vent cover 8 -
guard at front steps broken”</i></blockquote>
<br />
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<br />Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-41455440631203358502017-01-18T09:00:00.000-08:002017-01-18T09:00:23.362-08:00The Uconscionable State of Our Rentals<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-38EyzLjgF2g/WH-d85d19fI/AAAAAAAAAvs/rU72Uhsd4ucPem0iw0FvK7Mm5mEHS83aACLcB/s1600/P1030875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-38EyzLjgF2g/WH-d85d19fI/AAAAAAAAAvs/rU72Uhsd4ucPem0iw0FvK7Mm5mEHS83aACLcB/s320/P1030875.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
[Note: This article first appeared in <a href="http://nwcitizen.com/entry/the-unconscionable-state-of-our-rentals" target="_blank">NWCitizen</a>.]</div>
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The statistics from the first round of rental inspections in
Bellingham were quite sobering, a <a href="http://nwcitizen.com/entry/misleading-report-on-rental-inspection-results/writer/22" target="_blank">50% failure rate </a>upon first inspection of rental units in
the Sehome neighborhood. That is pretty bad and now the inspectors have moved
on to the York neighborhood where more than 50% of the single family housing
stock has been transformed into rentals. The city has released no statistics on
the present round of rental inspections but the planning department did provide
a 166 page document that lists all the inspections to date with descriptions of
the violations found. Some are enough to gag a rat while others would give
sleepless nights to parents of the predominantly student renters.</div>
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All this as the background echo of the real estate industry
and the landlords false claims of “a few bad apples” reverberate in City
Council chambers. One is forced to ask upon reading these violations, “Who are
these landlords and just what are they thinking?” How can such obvious neglect
be countenanced by a human being? The registration and inspection ordinance was
passed about two years ago. Did these landlords ever give a thought to starting
repairs? Or were they endangering their tenants by cynically waiting for their
inspection so they would not over-correct violations and spend too much money? </div>
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For your perusal I have culled, from the hundreds of
reports, a few of the violation descriptions. You can find more <a href="http://nwcitizen.com/images/fileuploads/InspectionResultLogOct-Jan17.pdf" target="_blank">at this link</a>. Here we go: </div>
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<i>“14 days Most items not fixed. Please review list from
initial inspection. **list from initial inspection**RB 8/26/2016 1:38:04 PM
Upstairs unit. 60 days 1 - ceiling open to attic and roof (attic access hatch
missing) 2 - south side bathroom, appears to be water under vinyl flooring 3 -
seal openings in vinyl flooring in south side bathroom 4 - weather stripping at
rear entrance door missing, open to the elements 5 - one window near rear door
open the the elements, gap in frame 6 - floor sheathing outside north side
bathroom soft and rotted from past leak, covered with vinyl flooring 7 -
southeast bedroom, no operable egress window 8 - northwest corner of house, siding
open to foundation 9 - couch on garage roof, garage likely not designed for
live loads such as furniture or multiple people 10 - northeast corner of
garage, ceiling joists rotted, not supporting roof, risk of collapse under body
weight”</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<i>
</i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Unprotected wiring above tub 2 - no light at rear entry 3 -
provide one smoke alarm per sleeping room and one in immediate vicinity on
outside of room, and one per level (mounting brackets present, did not see
alarms) 4 - provide one CO alarm per level 5 - large openings in basement,
garage/basement doors do not close securely or lock, Windows not secure and
several areas open for rodent intrusion 6 - significant water pooling, clothes
washer on pallets to keep above water pools 7 - un-terminated wiring near fuse
box, unprotected wiring hanging below floor joists, worn through sheathing in
areas 8 – switch hanging from wiring near chimney 9 - large opening in chimney
in basement, gas room heater vented through chimney 10 - guard and handrail at
basement steps 11 - clothes dryer not hooked up to vent 12 - dead bolt at rear
entrance inoperable, knob lock only held in place by striker plate, door jamb
compromised”</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<i>
</i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Sewage leaking throughout basement in storage room and
lower level bedrooms 2 - proof of adequate sanitation and mitigation of
affected areas from specialty cleaning agency (basement storage area and lower
level bedrooms) 3 - tenants should not be exposed to areas affected by sewage
leak until properly sanitized 4 - inadequate ventilation in upstairs bathroom,
walls are cracked and soft to touch 5 - upstairs bedroom windows not operable.
Do not open far enough for egress, not weatherproof, do not close completely 6
- missing smoke alarm in upstairs bedroom 7 - missing smoke alarm in upstairs
hallway 8 - CO alarms required on each level 9 - main level bath walls and
ceiling cracked and soft to touch, inadequate ventilation 10 - storm windows
over sleeping room windows do not meet egress window requirements”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<i>“Significant rotting at rear deck. Deck boards, joists, rim
and beam soft and crumbling provide smoke/CO alarms in missing locations 2 -
evidence of closet being used as a sleeping room (bed, clothing, personal
items) 3 - protect wiring at water heater 4 - missing junction box covers in
basement.”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Several large openings exist in structure. Repairs were
attempted but not made in a workmanlike manner. Home not sealed to weather and
rodents. Evidence of rodent intrusion still present in home. Provide rodent
mitigation and seal structure.” “room in basement closest to furnace, large
openings in walls and ceilings, with exposed framing and insulation 2 -
basement room near exterior door, light fixture hanging from wiring in ceiling
3 - no trap, no air gap in clothes washer standpipe 4 - downstairs tenant
reports strong sewer gas smell near bathroom 4 - large opening in basement bath
ceiling, unprotected wiring and open to framing 5 - basement toilet not sealed
at base, installed on blocks on uneven floor 6 - unprotected wiring at water
heater, wiring insulation frayed and worn. Replace wiring and protect with
conduit 7 - one smoke alarm per sleeping room and in hallway in immediate
vicinity of sleeping rooms required 8 - one CO alarm per level require 9 -
upstairs room to left of stairway, exposed/unprotected wiring at light switch
10 - upstairs room to right of stairway, light fixture hanging from wiring,
exposed wiring 11 - leak in ceiling by range, gets wet when it rains 12 -
exterior light under rear porch broken, exposed wiring 13 - chimney leaning,
mortar joints deteriorated, gas appliances venting through chimney 14 -
basement window near side stairway broken, exposed glass.”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This article will be updated as the city provides the
statistical breakdown of inspection pass/fails.</div>
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Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-932369323651077002016-12-15T10:11:00.000-08:002016-12-15T10:12:03.127-08:00 Hearing Examiner Halts Seattle’s ADU Ordinance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5PseCsll6sQ/WFLb537JtxI/AAAAAAAAAvM/oUhTccCeo1cLyS-hzHU6Ihgow9mgWan3QCLcB/s1600/ADU%2Bexample%2Bpic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5PseCsll6sQ/WFLb537JtxI/AAAAAAAAAvM/oUhTccCeo1cLyS-hzHU6Ihgow9mgWan3QCLcB/s320/ADU%2Bexample%2Bpic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>[Note: This article first appeared at <a href="http://nwcitizen.com/entry/hearing-examiner-halts-seattles-adu-ordinance" target="_blank">NWCitizen</a>] </b><br />
<br />
In a <a href="http://nwcitizen.com/images/fileuploads/SeattleADU-W-16-004FindingsandDecision12.13.16.pdf">decision</a> that may have an impact on the planned update of Bellingham’s accessory dwelling unit (ADU) ordinance in 2017,
Sue Tanner, the hearing examiner in Seattle, remanded to the Office of
Planning and Community Development (OPCD) for further work their
environmental impact <a href="http://nwcitizen.com/images/fileuploads/SeattleSEPA-DNS-ADU-DADU-v2.pdf" target="_blank">Determination of Non-Significance</a> (DNS) on the <a href="http://nwcitizen.com/images/fileuploads/Seattle2016-OPCD-ADU-DADU-SEPA-Checklist-v2.pdf" target="_blank">SEPA Environmental Checklist</a>
prepared for an update to Seattle’s ADU ordinance . Although the
decision is not binding on Bellingham, aspects of the hearing examiner’s
decision should have an indirect effect on the decision process on ADUs
here.<br />
<br />
As reported in the <a href="http://nwcitizen.com/images/fileuploads/SeattleADU-SEPA-Decision.pdf" target="_blank">Seattle Times</a>,<b> </b><i>“Seattle
must halt a proposal to allow more and larger backyard cottages in
order to conduct a more thorough review of potential environmental
consequences, including the possibility that it could lead to
gentrification.” </i> Tanner’s decision states, “<i>“The record
demonstrates that the challenged DNS (determination of non-significance)
was not based on information sufficient to evaluate the proposal’s
impacts…” </i>In fact, most of the questions in the SEPA checklist are
answered “not applicable”. To think that the SEPA statement provides any
useful information whatsoever in determining the long-term effects of
the creation of ADUs in all of Seattle’s single family zoned areas is a
risible notion.<br />
<br />
As in Bellingham, certain ADUs are already allowed in the city of Seattle.<b> </b>The
Seattle ordinance would greatly expand their use by allowing ADUs on
smaller lots and even allow building of a cottage and an ADU on single
lot, thus creating three dwelling units on a single family zoned
property. The hearing examiner also found that the OPCD was not only the
proponent but also the decision maker on the DNS, a clear conflict.<br />
<br />
Not surprisingly, the same issues raised by Bellingham citizens during the Comprehensive Plan update
this year were in play in the Seattle decision. These issues are the
impact of parking, affordability, gentrification, public
services/utilities, height/bulk/scale and lifetime effects. The examiner
found that these aspects were not sufficiently studied.<br />
<br />
Here, the city can expect a substantial push-back by citizens
who, although generally supportive of carefully planned use of ADUs,
suspect that Bellingham’s ADU ordinance update may be used to
effectively eliminate single family zoning creating severe negative
effects on the character of neighborhoods. The year 2017 may prove to be
an interesting one for housing and land use decisions.Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-87039179895579085252016-09-30T08:18:00.000-07:002016-09-30T08:18:58.603-07:00Misleading/Incomplete Report on Rental Inspection Results<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H4oew5JVrOg/V-5-KBY21jI/AAAAAAAAAuw/aaXEmnteyyMVYkY3wbtQDM-hk_k8q9ZIwCLcB/s1600/rentalinspectionresults.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-H4oew5JVrOg/V-5-KBY21jI/AAAAAAAAAuw/aaXEmnteyyMVYkY3wbtQDM-hk_k8q9ZIwCLcB/s320/rentalinspectionresults.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pass/Fail Rate Misrepresented</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong>[Note: This article first appeared at <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/misleading-report-on-rental-inspection-results" target="_blank">NWCitizen</a>] </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Before the committee of the whole of the Bellingham City
Council on 26 September, the planning director presented a "correction"
to the figures on the pass/fail rate of rental units</strong> inspected
over the previous three months in the Sehome neighborhood. In fact, the
figures presented differed little from previous reports. (see my prior
column on these statistics <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/preliminary-picture-bellingham-rentals-are-a-disaster">here</a>) The new figures were 242 passed and 239 failed <strong><em>with a fail rate of 50%</em>.</strong>
[The minor differences from previous figures of 231 and 237
respectively are due to constant updates as new units are inspected each
day.] The director's report (see pie chart) goes on to say that after a
<strong>SECOND</strong> inspection, another 142 units passed. The
claim then was that 80% of our rental stock inspected to date passed!
Woohoo! This is true but terribly misleading since the initial failure
rate was 50%. With the logic of the pie chart pictured above, the
passing on a second inspection of the remaining 95 failed units would
bring the failure rate for our rental stock to 0% when, in fact, <strong>the initial go around was a miserable <em>50% pass rate demonstrating the true condition of the rental units before any inspections whatsoever</em></strong>. This wretched failure rate should bring a collective gasp of dumbfoundedness to the city of Bellingham.<br />
<br />
<strong>This leads us to the incomplete.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Even more alarming was that there was no specification that 310
rental units (35%) of the 880 units in Sehome are being inspected by
private inspectors.</strong> The use of private inspectors is allowed
by state law, however, at the moment there appears to be no means by
which the city can compel the private inspector to turn over <a href="https://www.cob.org/documents/planning/housing/rentals/final-checklist.pdf">the actual inspection sheet</a>.
All the city receives is a "pass" document, attested to by the
inspector. There will be no indication about the number of failed
inspections made before the pass attestation is given to the city. This
not only paves the way for shenanigans on the part of the landlord
(inspector-landlord collusion) but it also deprives the city and, more
importantly, the tenants of vital, detailed information regarding the
problems found within the rental units. [To date there has been no
indication of any collusion.] <strong>Nevertheless, the 310 units (35%)
in Sehome to be inspected by private inspectors leaves an enormous
lacuna in the information on deficiencies available to the city.</strong>
Furthermore, the city is finding that landlords using private
inspectors tend to be the large management/real estate firms, many of
which have checkered histories in dealing with tenants. This is
unacceptable. The planning director indicated that the city is awaiting
a legal case now in Seattle that may clarify the private inspector
issue and its consequences.<br />
<br />
<strong>As the inspections wind down in the Sehome neighborhood, the city will fix its attention next on the York neighborhood</strong>
with its 575 rental units, a mix of single and mutli-family zoned
areas. 54% of York's 479 single family homes are rentals. In fact, 31
of those individual homes are owned by Dave and Jonathan Hansen. At
total of 27 other single family rentals are owned variously and
separately by four landlords. The number of landlords who will use
private inspectors in the York neighborhood remains to be seen but the
situation should give any thinking person pause<br />
.<br />
<strong>After the York neighborhood the city will move south to Happy Valley and then finish the south end</strong> with South Hill, Fairhaven, Edgemoor and South neighborhoods. An explanatory map of the inspection zones can be found <a href="https://www.cob.org/Documents/planning/housing/rentals/inspection-zones.pdf">here</a>.Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-80022770489714043722016-09-20T10:16:00.001-07:002016-09-28T17:42:21.794-07:00 The War Has Just Begun<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UuDCIQf035w/V-FtYRdns4I/AAAAAAAAAuU/hahRfq9lmOM9C6p9RJa7WsUA9CQhZEZagCLcB/s1600/P1020568.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UuDCIQf035w/V-FtYRdns4I/AAAAAAAAAuU/hahRfq9lmOM9C6p9RJa7WsUA9CQhZEZagCLcB/s320/P1020568.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quality Rental in Bellingham (photo: Dick Conoboy)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: blue;">[Note: This entry was first published on 16 Sep on <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/preliminary-picture-bellingham-rentals-are-a-disaster" target="_blank">NWCitizen</a>.]</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"> </span>[Note: September 28, 2016 - the percentage figure of failures was
initially reported at 42%. In fact, the correct failure rate was 50%
(227 of 458 inspections.]<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><b>"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."</b></i><br />
— Winston Churchill<br />
<br />
Bellingham's war on slum housing has just begun and in
the first round of rental inspections since June 1 in the Sehome
neighborhood the enemy has been rousted. Out of the dark corners, hidden
from the public eye emerges the truth about Bellingham's dirty little
secret: Slum landlords are alive and thriving.<br />
<br />
Although landlords have had about two years to fix up their units since the rental inspection ordinance was passed,
a shocking 50% [corrected]of the units (according to the city's preliminary
figures below) failed their initial inspection. Even the ones that
passed had some "conditions" at the initial visit. This demonstrates
the arrogance of landlords who, knowing that inspections were coming,
did nothing. After years of ignoring basic health and safety standards
they, as business owners, are now being held accountable to <b><i>business standards </i></b>for the very first time!<br />
<br />
Here is the preliminary breakdown for the Sehome neighborhood where inspections officially wrap up at the end of September.<br />
<br />
Between 6/1/16 and 9/13/16 a total of 267 properties (or approximately 458 [corrected] units) have been inspected:<br />
<i>• 231 units passed or passed w/ conditions at initial inspection<br />
• 227 units failed at initial inspection<br />
• 78 units were marked as missed appointments at initial inspection
(these are scheduled again as "initial inspection" and would show back
up in the passed or failed categories)<br />
• 115 units passed or passed w/ conditions at 1st re-inspection<br />
• 7 units failed at 1st re-inspection<br />
• 19 units were marked as missed appointments at 1st re-inspection
(these are scheduled again as "1st re-inspection" and would show back up
in the passed or failed categories)<br />
• 2 units passed or passed w/ conditions at 2nd re-inspection</i><br />
<br />
Advocates for the new rental inspection program challenged the city and the rental industry to prove us wrong.
Local anti-inspection landlords said their industry was better here.
They promoted that myth during a long 15-year battle against
implementation of inspections and registration. Unfortunately, the
claims of those supporting rental inspections for the last decade or
more were born out in this first round of code enforcement. Fortunately
the Bellingham City Council finally, albeit for some members very
reluctantly, bit the bullet two years ago and created an ordinance to
inspect rental units and ensure the health and safety of half of the
city's residents, tenants.<br />
<br />
The war on slum housing has just begun. The faulty
wiring, bad plumbing, infestation of rats, leaky roofs, mold and unsafe
structures are finally being exposed. Bellingham's liberation from its
dirty little secret has just begun.<br />
<br />
It will be interesting to see how the "rental industry" leadership responds to this, if at all.Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-5596890404600929582016-03-09T15:35:00.000-08:002016-03-09T15:35:14.707-08:00Durham, NH, - Surprise! - Rental Inspections Worked<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m8ANAkLBTdA/VuCo8lAxGkI/AAAAAAAAAtg/rklO8AVEmPs/s1600/Durham%252C_NH_Town_Seal%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m8ANAkLBTdA/VuCo8lAxGkI/AAAAAAAAAtg/rklO8AVEmPs/s320/Durham%252C_NH_Town_Seal%25281%2529.png" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Durham, NH Where Rental Inspections Worked!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong><span style="color: red;">[Note: This article first appeared in <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/durham-nh-rental-inspections-worked" target="_blank">NWCitizen</a>]</span></strong><br />
<br />
<strong>In 2013 Durham, NH, passed a rental registration and inspection law over the objections of the "rental industry."</strong>
Within a year, the results demonstrated the need for inspections by
unearthing problems the landlords denied existed, especially among
professionally managed units. In a report issued by the city of Durham
only three months after passage of the law we find this:<br />
<blockquote>
<em>"The DLA [Durham Landlord Association] has also argued that it is
the non-owner occupied, single family rentals managed by
non-professional landlords that represent the problem properties in
terms of safety concerns in Durham. The new inspection program does not
bear out that contention. Rental properties of all types have been
found deficient in meeting fire/safety standards."</em><br />
</blockquote>
<strong>The report also indicated:</strong><br />
<blockquote>
<em>"Inspection results have substantiated the long-held concerns of
the Town’s Code Enforcement Department, Fire Department, Assessing
Office, and some members of the Rental Housing Commission – that many
rental properties in town do not meet basic health and safety standards
as required by state statute putting young and inexperienced, largely
college-aged tenants in harms way."</em><br />
</blockquote>
<strong>Two years later, the city website reported this to the citizens of Durham:</strong><br />
<em>"Between 2013 and today, a total of <strong>1,784 inspections</strong> </em>[bolding mine] <em>have
taken place within off campus rental dwelling units (apartments) by the
inspection division at the Durham Fire Department. The Fire Department
staff has found <strong>4,021 violations </strong></em>[bolding mine]<em><strong> </strong>to
date, of which 3,213 have been addressed by owners. There are 808
outstanding issues for which re-inspections are required/pending. </em><br />
<em>The top five life/safety/health deficiencies include:</em><br />
<em> Egress/Escape<br />
Detection/Alarms (smoke/co)<br />
Electrical violations<br />
Separation from hazards<br />
Fire Protection Systems not being property maintained (fire alarms/sprinklers)</em><br />
<em>Durham's Housing Standards Ordinance is serving the purpose for
which it was intended -- to make living conditions much safer for
inexperienced students as well as adult tenants living off campus in the
broader community."</em><br />
<br />
<strong>That sounds like a successful program in a university city.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>As in Bellingham, landlords tried unsuccessfully to fight inspections by creating uncertainty about the legality</strong> under the <a href="http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Fourth+Amendment" target="_blank">4th Amendment of the US Constitution</a>
that spells out the need for warrants for searches and seizures. This
specious argument has nothing to do with entering dwelling units for
safety and health reasons. In Washington state, landlords already have
the right to enter rental units after giving notice. It is ludicrous to
posit that a city health and safety inspector operating as an agent of
the municipality does not have a similar ability to enter a rental unit
with notice. Washington state law also allows issuing administrative
warrants to enter units where a tenant or a landlord has refused
access. Rental inspectors are just not breaking down doors to find a
tenant in his skivvies. Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-60601464006648324562016-02-09T09:42:00.000-08:002016-02-09T09:42:11.786-08:00Stop the Rental Fires Now!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-22Nz_PQ3-uo/VroiRJbGurI/AAAAAAAAAs8/J1qiJ4tFSSA/s1600/IMG_2996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-22Nz_PQ3-uo/VroiRJbGurI/AAAAAAAAAs8/J1qiJ4tFSSA/s320/IMG_2996.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i class="caption">Ellis St. Duplex - Note Red Condemnation Sign and Protective Fencing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dhPahswGUhc/Vroio_AH6bI/AAAAAAAAAtA/aYusQfqw_lM/s1600/Ellisfire1bis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<span style="color: red;">[Note: This article first appeared in <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/stop-the-rental-fires-now" target="_blank">NWCitizen </a>on 8 Feb 2015]</span> </div>
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City inspections of Bellingham rentals are due to begin in
the 2nd quarter of this year. Over 18,000 rental units have so far been
registered for the first round of an inspection regime to take place over the
next three years. And none too soon! Since 2011 we have chalked up <a href="http://zonemaven.blogspot.com/2014/04/six-rental-fires-and-meth-contamination.html" target="_blank">seven rental fires</a> that have displaced about two dozen young student renters.
These fires must be stopped before someone is seriously injured or killed.</div>
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Most recently, on 14 December 2015, a fire broke out in an
85 year old duplex rental home on Ellis St. The home is the
property of the notoriously ubiquitous landlord Dave Hansen of Lakeway Realty
who owns property citywide. Most of the female occupants (three upstairs
and three down) were on holiday break from WWU and WCC, however, one of the
remaining young women was at home upstairs when she was alerted to the fire by
a next door neighbor. Smoke alarms failed to sound due to “discharged or
dead” batteries according to <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7zCiYjHd3DlUzZDSFJGcnY2elE/view" target="_blank">the fire marshal’s report</a>. Unfortunately,
this is not the first fire in a Hansen rental. On January 11th, 2011 a
f<a href="http://zonemaven.blogspot.com/2011/01/wwu-students-burned-out-of-york.html" target="_blank">ire in another of his rentals on Grant St. </a>displaced student renters. In
December 2011 <a href="http://zonemaven.blogspot.com/2011/12/maple-street-fire-some-unresolved.html" target="_blank">a fire in a Hansen rental on Maple St</a>. left five young women
renters from WWU homeless. </div>
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Nearly half of the rental fires in Bellingham since 2011
have been in Hansen rentals, although the word out on local campuses is, “Do
not rent from Lakeway Realty.” Yet young student renters continue
to rent from Lakeway because there is little to no choice. The women who
rented the home on Ellis St. had about 15 minutes to inspect the house prior to
signing the lease even though they were aware of the reputation of Hansen and
his property management firm. They described mold on the crumbling
ceiling of one of the bathrooms that had been painted over. A window
broken out after the move-in was not repaired but was finally replaced by the
tenants themselves at their own expense. At least one smoke alarm was
beeping during and after the move-in but the tenants were not aware of the
source of the warning signal which finally stopped. Another smoke alarm in
the downstairs unit was also not working. In addition, nobody informed
the renters of the separately rented upstairs unit that the heating system for
the entire house had one thermostat control and that was located in the lower
unit of the duplex (also separately rented) to which they had no access. <b>Notwithstanding
the condition of this house, the landlord charged the tenants $1450/mo rental
for the downstairs unit and $1200 for the upstairs unit. </b></div>
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As in the Grant St. fire, the cause of the Ellis St. fire
was electrical, in an attic space. Contributing to the cause according to
the official report was an “installation deficiency.” The tenants
also told of old, deteriorated electrical outlets. There were no ground
fault interrupters (GFI) in the bathrooms, but the tenants only realized that
after having been given a description of the outlet that should have been
installed. At one point the stove caught fire. It took two weeks to
replace the stove while the tenants were advised to buy a camping stove to do
their cooking. These small stoves are notorious for giving off carbon
monoxide, an odorless and deadly gas. </div>
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To date, the renters of the Ellis St. duplex have not
received their security deposit from the landlord. The house was tagged
as condemned by fire and city officials and some windows were boarded up.
The photos below show the second floor just after the fire. This may have
well been a scene of death. Unfortunately for the renters, who had no
insurance, the house was almost immediately broken into resulting in some
property loss and additional trashing of the interior. Inexplicably some
of the electrical outlets were missing. The young women received no
assistance from the landlord after gathering a few belongings from the house.<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dhPahswGUhc/Vroio_AH6bI/AAAAAAAAAtA/aYusQfqw_lM/s1600/Ellisfire1bis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xnRtXX38mJk/VrojHACHhYI/AAAAAAAAAtE/HkGPFMyraKQ/s1600/Ellisfire2bis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xnRtXX38mJk/VrojHACHhYI/AAAAAAAAAtE/HkGPFMyraKQ/s320/Ellisfire2bis.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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The Bellingham rental registration and inspection ordinance
may, at last, do away with these dangerous rentals. Additional efforts
are being made by WWU's <a href="http://www.wwu.edu/offcampusliving/" target="_blank">Campus Community Coalition </a>to educate incoming students
about entering into rental agreements. This long time landlord tyranny in the
rental market should eventually be eliminated.</div>
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<br /></div>
Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-37049046271986983322015-11-16T14:13:00.002-08:002015-11-16T14:13:17.543-08:00Accessory Dwelling Units - There Is No Rush<span style="color: red;"> [Note: This article first appeared on </span><a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/accessory-dwelling-units-there-is-no-rush" target="_blank">NWCitizen</a> <span style="color: red;">on Nov 16, 2015]</span><br />
<br />
Over the past year, various groups<strong> </strong>(primarily a focus
group, the Planning Commission and the Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory
Commission) have met in work groups to discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and the need to update
the current ordinance. The<a href="http://www.cob.org/documents/planning/boards-commissions/planning-commission/2015-adu/2015-10-28-existing-bmc.pdf" target="_blank"> last version of the ordinance</a>
was passed by the City Council in 1995 but has not been updated since
and has largely been ignored, especially the requirement to register
such units with the city on a recurring basis. Notably, the city has
been complicit in not actively pursuing landlords who are not in
compliance except as the result of a complaint. The result is
unregistered and likely unpermitted dwelling units that put occupants at
risk. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWJRRezZCpM/VkpTP5PVmEI/AAAAAAAAAsw/4nGOpRP8fkM/s1600/P1020568.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWJRRezZCpM/VkpTP5PVmEI/AAAAAAAAAsw/4nGOpRP8fkM/s320/P1020568.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
For example, the ADU pictured at left was condemned several years
ago and declared uninhabitable after a long struggle between the tenant
and the landlord to effect repairs. Only about 94 ADUs are registered
in Bellingham although in neighborhoods such as South Hill, York and
Sehome, there are, according to neighborhood residents and association
officials, dozens of unregistered and therefore illegal units of poor or
unknown condition.<br />
<br />
The current attention being paid to ADUs comes about primarily as a result of the <a href="http://www.cob.org/documents/planning/boards-commissions/planning-commission/2015-adu/2015-10-28-discussion-notes.pdf" target="_blank">requirement to review the ordinance</a> once
there are 200 registered ADUs city-wide or any specific neighborhood
exceeds 20 ADUs. The South Hill neighborhood is nearing this number of
registered units, although as noted above, the proliferation of illegal
units means that quite likely South Hill already has many more than 20
ADUs.<br />
<br />
The city is exploring ways to increase infill and density
within the city limits. Although the planning director himself has
said on several occasions that ADUs, in and of themselves, cannot
substantially add to density or cure the problem of insufficient
affordable housing, the city is moving ahead with the review process.
There is nothing inherently wrong with ADUs. There are, however,
problems when the number of existing units is unknown and the current
density of neighborhoods is not well understood or quantified. A
proliferation of ADUs in the York Neigbhorhood is not the same as an
equal number in Cordata or Edgemoor.<br />
<br />
Increased density brings with it the inevitable nuisances<strong>
</strong>of noise, insufficient parking and litter. The city poorly manages and
mitigates these problems in that they are low on the list of priorities
for the police, code enforcement and public works. Problems linger for
weeks, months or even years. In some areas near the university, there
is no longer room for additional vehicles. This situation begs for some
sort of control on the number and spacing of ADUs as people who rent
them cannot be expected to just get rid of their vehicles. Statements
to the effect that ADU residents will for the most part take public
transportation, walk or bike are unsuppported and go against the
everyday experience of those now living in crowded neighborhoods,
replete with ADUs, many of which are not yet identified by the city in
spite of complaints. The limit of three people occupying an ADU also
says the possibility exists that three additional vehicles will be
brought into a neighborhood. In some cases both the main house and the
ADU are rented out, thus ignoring the code requirement that the landlord
live in either the house or the ADU. This further aggravates issues
related to noise and parking since the landlord is not present as a
calming agent and the house may well be stuffed with 5 or more renters,
most of whom have cars, who are seeking to lower their individual costs.
This is understandable economically, however, if allowed to continue
and proliferate, will radically change the character of a neighborhood.<br />
<br />
Although there is no reason not to eventually bring
ADUs back into the realm of housing possibilities, a current inventory
is essential. The recently adopted ordinance on rental inspections may
uncover some units that have not yet been known to the city, however,
the rollout of inspections under this ordinance will play out over three
years. What mechanism will the city then use to identify (prior to
enacting an ADU ordinance) all existing units? Without that knowledge
an ordinance that specifies the number of ADUs allowed in a particular
area will be ineffective and destructive.<br />
<br />
The city has to answer these questions before
proceeding. Saying that mitigation of problems will take place later
and that present density is not an issue are not acceptable responses.<br />
<br />
<i><b>A work session on this topic will be held before the Planning Commission on Thursday, 19 Nov 2015 at 7pm in the city council chambers of city hall. Agenda and materials <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=529&doctype=AGENDA" target="_blank">here</a>.</b></i>Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-53061372948630753642015-08-06T10:33:00.000-07:002015-08-06T10:33:10.002-07:00The Hansen’s Giant Rental Megaplex - Part 2<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;">[Note: This article originally appeared in <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/hansen-iron-st.-rental-megaplex-part-ii" target="_blank">NWCitizen</a> on August 4, 2015.]</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The saga continues. </span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H5W-PqfOVQo/VcOW0cCDMJI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/JuV_jLObHHw/s1600/megplexmadness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H5W-PqfOVQo/VcOW0cCDMJI/AAAAAAAAAqQ/JuV_jLObHHw/s320/megplexmadness.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming Soon to Your Neighborhood</td></tr>
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Local lawyers Belcher and Swanson threw the legal
equivalent of a hissy fit while representing Cottonwood Units LLC -
otherwise known as David and Jon Hansen of Lakeway Realty. This tantrum was in
response to the city's "delay" in permitting the Hansens' Iron Street
rental megaplexes, even though under code the city has until September 28th to
respond. Without a hint of embarassment at having been caught with their hand
in the rental-unit cookie jar, the Hansens, through their attorneys, demanded
in high dudgeon the immediate issuance of building permits for five-bedroom
plus two bonus room "homes." The owner's claim that these homes are
five bedrooms plus two bonus rooms is also a ruse to circumvent parking requirements.
The houses had already been advertised for rent to seven (or more?) individual
tenants on craigslist earlier this year. You can read reports of this
attempted sleight of hand in my article of June 1st entitled <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/hansen-iron-street-rental-megaplex-planned-for-york-neighborhood" target="_blank">Hansen-IronStreet Rental Megaplex Planned for York Neighborhood</a>. </div>
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We are witnessing nothing less than an attempt at
code-busting which will destroy single family zoning. This is a direct violation
of the Bellingham Municipal Code (BMC) regarding the creation of rooming houses
in single family neighborhoods. Initially, the city wrote to the Hansens saying
the permits would be contingent on the owner's agreement to separate covenants
on the property that would preclude turning the megaplexes into rooming houses.
Later, the city requirement devolved into "restrictive language"
within the permits themselves. Here is that language:</div>
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<i>"The residential building and use approved under permit
#CMB 2015-00XX was applied for and reviewed as a single family residence as
regulated under the International Residential Code and Beliingham Municipal
Code (BMC) Title 20- Land Use Development. Use of the building as a
boarding or rooming house or congregate living facility as defined by the
International Building Code and the Land Use Code shall be prohibited.
The use of the property shall be resticted to one single family dwelling unit
and at no time may more than three unrelated persons reside in the single family
dwelling unit as defined under BMC 20.08.020. Violation of this condition
shall be subject to enforcement action as allowed under City of Bellingham
adopted building and land use codes."</i></div>
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As of yesterday, August 3rd, the building permits so
vehemently demanded by the Hansens and their attorneys were still sitting in
the permit center at city hall, even though it has been a week since the center
notified the applicants that the permits were ready. Ironically, code
enforcement action continues on another five-bedroom plus two bonus room home
recently constructed by the Hansens on Humboldt Street - see a separate
NWCitizen article I wrote on July 7th entitled <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/parentage-of-the-hansen-iron-st.-rental-megaplex-found-on-humboldt-st" target="_blank">Family Home for Rent:$44,000/year</a>. The house on Humboldt Street was likely the beta test for the
Iron Street megaplexes as the applicant maneuvered it through the permitting
process by hiding the intention to use the bonus rooms as bedrooms.</div>
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The code enforcement complaint on these yet-to-be-built
rental megaplexes has, of course, revived the polemic regarding the so-called
"rule of three." That rule was discussed and then ignored by
Bellingham City Council a few years ago in the hopes that it might magically
disappear. No such luck. At the <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=332&doctype=AGENDA" target="_blank">council meeting on July 27th</a>, Dan Hammill and
Terry Bornemann brought up the heretofore unspoken problem behind the five-bedroom
plus two bonus room houses, and that is: more than three unrelated persons
living together, or in other words, illegal rooming/boarding houses. The term
family* - as in "single-family" - was discovered by our former
planning director, Tim Stewart, to be not so easily banished from the BMC since
the term is used in other code titles. One way or another, it has to be defined
- and therein lies the rub. Unless the council is actively looking to radically
change the nature of single family zoning or eliminate it entirely, it must
face and confront this direct and deliberate attempt to ignore city statutes.
</div>
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All of this may have an eerie ring to it because I wrote
about the destruction of Bellingham's neighborhoods one house at a time nearly
six years ago in an article on my Zonemaven blog aptly entitled <a href="http://zonemaven.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-to-destroy-neighborhood.html" target="_blank">How toDestroy a Neighborhood - One...House...at...a...Time</a>. The city's response to
enforcement back then was ready, aim, aim, aim, aim... Can't we do better
now?</div>
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But now the neighborhoods are beginning to fight back. The
York Neighborhood grabbed this bull by the horns and has not let go. On May
26th, the York Neighborhood Association board submitted <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7zCiYjHd3DlNDN4N0hEOEtneFk/view" target="_blank">a seven pageletter</a> to our current planning director, Rick Sepler, about the
"seven-actual bedrooms" illegal use intention. They then initiated a
petition campaign and within three weeks had collected 250 signatures, which
included 100 collected door-to-door by Sehome residents in that neighborhood.
Then, on July 27th they turned in more, bringing the total to 300. The petition
called for an investigation, which the planning department is conducting, along
with "monitoring" of the situation on the other proposed rental
megaplexes. The Sunnyland Neighborhood Association submitted a letter to the
city in support of the York Neighborhood. For ALL neighborhood associations,
and especially York, Sehome, and Sunnyland, this fight is about protecting
single family neighborhoods and stopping the illegal up-zoning that has been
going on for years, supported by the rental industry. It appears that we
finally have people in city hall who are paying attention to the rules and
listening to voices other than those of the developers, landlords and real
estate agents.</div>
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The petition also called on the council to direct the
planning department to begin work on design guidelines for single family
historic districts. At its last meeting, the council unanimously approved
directing the planning department to study and bring back an approach for
design standards of neighborhood character in historic districts. You can watch
the video of the Planning Committee's discussion at the city website <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=408&doctype=AGENDA" target="_blank">here</a>. The
topic is a direct result of the petition and the aforesaid attempt by David and
Jon Hansen, again under the guise of Cottonwood Units, LLC, to build these
five-bedroom plus two bonus room homes on Iron Street in the York Neigbhorhood.
While new standards unfortunately would not affect the lots on Iron Street,
they would provide some future assurance that homes left to deteriorate in
historic districts would not be razed in order to build the equivalent of
mini-apartment/rental megaplexes. The concept is that any new home construction
would have to fit with the character of the street or block's surrounding
homes. The council opted to focus on historic areas, after which consideration
might be given to expanding the concept throughout the city.</div>
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*“BMC 20.08.020 - <i>Family” means one or more persons related
by blood, marriage, or adoption, or not more than three unrelated persons,
living together within a single dwelling unit. For purposes of this definition,
children with familial status within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. 3602(k) and
individuals with disabilities within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. 3602(h) will not
be counted as unrelated persons. “Adult family homes,” as defined by RCW
70.128.010, are included within the definition of “family.” Facilities housing
individuals who are incarcerated as the result of a conviction or other court
order shall not be included within this definition.</i></div>
Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-38291258051175626472015-06-01T06:51:00.000-07:002015-06-01T06:51:32.251-07:00Hansen-Iron Street Rental Megaplex Planned for York Neighborhood<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qt2PFU6Gg0A/VWpB3gvx8XI/AAAAAAAAAoE/Y0c5Y1b9yH8/s1600/P1120417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qt2PFU6Gg0A/VWpB3gvx8XI/AAAAAAAAAoE/Y0c5Y1b9yH8/s320/P1120417.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three lots in the 1600 block of Iron St. York Neighborhood</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> [Note: This article first appeared on <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/hansen-iron-street-rental-megaplex-planned-for-york-neighborhood" target="_blank">NWCitizen</a>] </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In what could be an appalling and
game-changing precedent for many of Bellingham’s single-family neighborhoods</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, a megaplex of three seven-bedroom (five bedrooms plus two
“bonus rooms”) single-family homes is planned for three adjoining lots on Iron
St (1623, 1625, and 1627) in the York Neighborhood by local developers David
and Jon Hansen under Cottonwood Units, LLC. A recent, but since removed, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7zCiYjHd3DlSXBwbEVwaWdYRmM/view" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Craig’s list advertisement</span></a> had listed the
yet-to-be-built homes for rent (beginning in September) at $3,500 per month
plus a security deposit of $250 per adult. The intent to peddle these houses as
rentals and not as single-family homes is clear – and illegal. </span></div>
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One small home, built in 1910, currently sits on the middle lot of the three
adjacent properties.<b> </b>The plan, according to a demolition request
submitted by the owners, is to raze the existing structure to pave the way to build
the three “single-family” homes. This request has occasioned a SEPA (State
Environmental Protection Act) review process since the house is within a
national historic district. However, it is unlikely the review will result in
anything but a DNS (Determination of Non-Significance). The neighborhood is
protesting the demolition of the home due to the intrinsically adverse
consequences of the destruction of old homes within historic areas. </span></div>
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More strikingly obvious, though, is the immense damage done to neighborhood
character by creating three outrageously oversized houses solely for the
purpose of renting each of them to seven or more persons.
This is a violation of the Growth Management Act, which mandates the
maintenance of neighborhood character. Imagine the effect of having 21 or more
tenants on three adjacent single-family lots. This is little more than
multi-family housing being created in a single-family-zoned area and is a clear
warning sign of a potential domino effect, reminiscent of “block busting,” in
which other older homes in the York Neighborhood are bulldozed for the purpose
of building other “McMansion” rentals that are nothing but small apartment
buildings. It is not lost on the local residents that the Hansens own <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/13hWDB4xV0u0XZiQXiMompE-3pq05xpLtBeJSvwmPiMc/edit" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">33 properties</span></a> in the York Neighborhood, any of
which can subsequently and similarly be targeted for “renewal.” Other single-family
neighborhoods ought to be paying close attention, watching to see if the city
decides to allow such blatantly inappropriate construction.</span></div>
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As for legality, renting these homes to more than three unrelated people is
a violation of the<b><a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.codepublishing.com%2FWA%2FBellingham%2F%3Fbellingham20%2FBellingham2008.html"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></a></b><a href="http://www.codepublishing.com/WA/Bellingham/?bellingham20/Bellingham2008.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Bellingham Municipal Code 20.08.020(F)(1) - definition of family</span></a>. Like it or not, the code is currently on the books and was
used as <a href="https://www.cob.org/documents/planning/neighborhoods/university-ridge/motion-reconsideration-decision.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">legal justification by the Hearing Examiner to limit the size of units </span></a>in the now-defunct University Ridge project in which
the developer illegally proposed four-bedroom dwelling units. The ordinance was
the subject of a paper for the Bellingham City Council several years ago in
which the so-called “rule of three” was reviewed by the city attorney. As
indicated in the <a href="ftp://ftp.cob.org/council/packets/2008/06_jun/23/packets/23jun2008_AB18021.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Agenda Bill of the time</span></a>, aside from some federal
and state exemptions, such codes are constitutional, having been declared so by
the <a href="http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/belle.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">US Supreme Court in 1974 in Belle Terre v Boraa</span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">s</a>. </span></div>
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One might also ask about the number of parking spaces that are necessary for
three seven-bedroom houses.<b> </b>The total is 18. Given the very narrow
alley at the rear of these lots, the only viable method to provide parking
would be to pave the entire back portion of the lots to accommodate the
vehicles, not only adding to the footprint of impervious surfaces even beyond
the footprint of the “McMansion” rental structures, but also removing any
vestige of existing greenery. Moreover, the size of the lots and the
calculations for a parking area for 18 vehicles will not pencil out. It will
become a<b> parking blivet*</b>. The argument that the tenants will not
have cars because they will bike or take public transport has scant basis in
fact, although planners will regularly cite use of alternative transport to
support infill, however inappropriate - think of the recently approved <a href="http://www.cob.org/documents/planning/boards-commissions/design-review/2015-materials/2015-04-21-landscape-plan%286.4%29.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Forest Garden dormitory project</span></a> that is to house
over 400 students at the former site of the Adventist Church. Taking a bus to
work or school does not rule out vehicle ownership for other activities. Not
surprisingly, York residents did not just fall off the turnip truck. [Note
photo below. These four five-bedroom snout-houses on the 100 block of Ashley
St. were built in 2002 solely as rentals. There are regularly 20+ vehicles
parked at or around these homes which are located several hundred feet from the
WWU Lincoln Park and Ride lot. So much for the contention that the tenants will
not have vehicles.]<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vrl9gJLLREA/VWpCKvHoTmI/AAAAAAAAAoM/hvWcltysOJo/s1600/P1120314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vrl9gJLLREA/VWpCKvHoTmI/AAAAAAAAAoM/hvWcltysOJo/s320/P1120314.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four 5-bedroom snout-houses in the 100 block of Ashley St.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The York Neighborhood Association has sent a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7zCiYjHd3DlNDN4N0hEOEtneFk/view" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">letter to the Planning Director </span></a>asking for
review of this project on several issues,<b> </b>not the least of which are among
those I mentioned above. The neighborhood has also initiated<span style="color: blue;"> a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7zCiYjHd3DlMWhOV0lmRnEtTTQ/view" target="_blank">petition to the city council</a></span> to request that
it, "(1) direct its attention to and investigate this project, (2) provide
direction to the Planning Dept. as to appropriate infill for this property
located in a Single-Family zoned and National Historic District, and (3) direct
the Planning Dept. to begin work on development of Design Guidelines for new
construction in residential historic districts."</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">*An impossible thing that will not
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Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-39959844254653143962015-04-09T07:32:00.001-07:002015-04-09T07:32:18.812-07:00Student Housing Project Revived for Lincoln St. Development Site<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AVEJ1SrQ8fE/VSaKSHbENlI/AAAAAAAAAmo/xG59E8wKoUk/s1600/castudentlivingwashingtonstate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AVEJ1SrQ8fE/VSaKSHbENlI/AAAAAAAAAmo/xG59E8wKoUk/s1600/castudentlivingwashingtonstate.jpg" height="316" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i class="caption">CA Student Living Building at the University of Washington, Seattle</i> </td></tr>
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With the failure of Campus Crest last year to move forward
with its plans to develop a student housing complex south of the Fred Meyer
store, the Puget neighborhood breathed a sigh of relief. Neighbors who
expressed the most concern, and rightly so, were the residents of the mobile
home park on the east side of Lincoln St. just opposite the planned
commercial/residential mixed-use site. The reprieve was predictably temporary
as CA Student Living, a subsidiary of CA Ventures, plans to build a similar
apartment complex but with somewhat less capacity than the Campus Crest group
had planned. An article by Oliver Lazenby, entitled <a href="http://bbjtoday.com/blog/national-real-estate-firm-revives-student-apartment-project-near-fred-meyer/30799" target="_blank">National Real Estate FirmRevives Apartment Project Near Fred Meyer</a>, on the sale and project plan is
available on the site of the Bellingham Business Journal. </div>
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Lazenby writes that the new developer "plans to
construct housing for hundreds of students by fall 2016, [according to] John
Diedrich, CA Ventures’ VP of Investments. [Detdrich] said in late March that
the company hopes to start construction in a couple weeks on 13 buildings with
230 units and about 640 bedrooms." You can read my previous articles on
the Lincoln St. development plans <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/with-ambling-university-developments-university-ridge-private-dormitory-pro?" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/lincoln-creek-apartment-development-may-be-abandoned?" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/campus-view-apartment-project-officially-defunct?" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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I have been in touch with the planning department. They have
not as yet received any officially submitted plans. As I mentioned in several
of my previous articles (linked to above), there were two residential
developments/approvals plus a commercial component for the entire site. CA
Ventures has purchased both residential sites. The planning department
indicates that their discussions revealed the buyers intend to modify their
design review approvals and make minor changes to the overall site plan. In the
meantime, as indicated in the Bellingham Business Journal piece, the developers
will continue work on portions of the approved design while going through a
review process for the modifications.</div>
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Under the original approvals there were a total of 391
dwelling units. Under Campus Crest, 216 were slated just south of Fred Meyer with an entrance onto Lincoln
and another 175 further south with an entrance on Maple St. near the carwash.
The new developers may be submitting a modified plan that will create
approximately 230 units for both sites, but without officially submitted plans
there is no confirmation. Planning has informed the applicant that it will need
to resubmit for amendments to the original design review approvals. After this
material is submitted, the planners will be able to determine what public
process (neighborhood meeting, public notices, etc.) may be needed.</div>
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Given the previous meetings with the public on this
development, the city is well aware of the concerns expressed by the
surrounding residents and neighborhood groups. It is somewhat encouraging that
the new owners may actually build out a smaller overall project than previously
considered. There does remain the question of the fate of the acreage known as
University Ridge at the corner of Nevada and Consolidation. An attempt to build
a dormitory-like complex there for 500-600 students was rejected by the
neighborhood and eventually, and luckily,<a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/anatomy-of-a-development-part-xii-citizens-win-against-university-ridge?" target="_blank"> strangled by the Hearing Examiner</a>. Also nearby is the nearly two acres on Ashley St. just to the east of
the Lincoln St. parking lot. If rezoned to Commericial Planned (the City
Council hearing is on Monday, 4 May), another mixed-use apartment/retail
complex, albeit much smaller, could be built on that site. The problem is the
cumulative effect of all these plans, and the ability of the public to
understand and the city to react to the overall effect on the
neighborhoods. </div>
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[Note: This article also appears on <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/anatomy-of-a-development-part-xii-citizens-win-against-university-ridge?" target="_blank">NWCitizen</a>] </div>
Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-25763194180738639362015-03-09T08:30:00.001-07:002015-03-09T08:30:08.865-07:00A Brief History of Bellingham's Rental OrdinanceThis month's Whatcom Watch published my account of the events surrounding the development and passage of Bellingham's rental registration and inspection ordinance. The article, entitled simply <a href="http://www.whatcomwatch.org/php/WW_open.php?id=1828" target="_blank">Rental Inspections in Bellingham</a>, traces the ordinance from recognition of the problem of unsafe rentals, even as far back as the 1990s. Click on the title (in blue) above to read the article.<br />
<br />
Final consideration (third reading) of the ordinance will take place at tonight's (9 March) city council meeting at 7pm. Earlier in the day (1:25pm) the Committee of the Whole will discuss the measure with staff. See the agenda bill <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=350&doctype=agenda&itemid=5500" target="_blank">here</a>.Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-15654130568616688022015-02-26T07:31:00.002-08:002015-02-26T07:31:55.100-08:00 Dealing with Meth Contamination - A Race to the Bottom in Whatcom County<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QK8Xe4unU-E/VO86XQdyixI/AAAAAAAAAmA/O1PKuoL0euk/s1600/anti_no_meth_rectangle_car_magnet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QK8Xe4unU-E/VO86XQdyixI/AAAAAAAAAmA/O1PKuoL0euk/s1600/anti_no_meth_rectangle_car_magnet.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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[This article by me first appeared on 25 February 2014 on <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/dealing-with-meth-contamination-a-race-to-the-bottom-in-whatcom-county" target="_blank">NWCitizen</a>.]</div>
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Methamphetamine contamination of homes in Whatcom County is
a serious problem that can affect all housing: private homes, rental units and
motel rooms. One need go no further than the recent condemnation of the Aloha Motel
which had severe meth contamination of many of its rooms, some of which were
occupied by families with small children. Just one year ago a rental home on
Myrtle St. was condemned as unfit for human habitation due to meth
contamination. A short while ago I asked the Bellingham City Council to add
inspection for meth contamination to the checklist for rental inspections that
is being developed in conjunction with a rental registration program. Council
demured.</div>
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With this as a background, the Whatcom County Health
Department approached the Whatcom Health Advisory Board last May and June
asking them to modify the county ordinance on meth contamination of
illegal use sites (as opposed to meth manufacturing sites) such as hotel rooms
and dwelling units. The Public Health Advisory Board agreed and the County
Council is scheduled to consider these changes in a hearing on 3 March. (You
can read the agenda bill from 10 February with the draft ordinance <a href="http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/council/0agendabills/ab2015-069.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.)</div>
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Presently, the mitigation of a contaminated site is the same
regardless of whether the site was for manufacture or illicit use of meth;
contamination levels are contamination levels in either case. Under current
law, the supervision of a mandatory cleanup costs the Health Department about
$1,000, and because the department supervises about 15-20 of these remediation
efforts per year, they were feeling the fiscal pinch after losing grant money
that previously covered the cost. As awareness of possible contamination rises,
whether for manufacture or illicit use, the county is on the hook for managing
an increasing number of cleanup sites.</div>
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The idea behind the new recommendations is to “decrease
financial and enforcement barriers to self reporting and cleanup” of these
illicit use units - which includes rentals. The changes would substitute
“technical assistance” to property owners versus the mandatory cleanup regimen
currently used for meth manufacturing. It is not clear how this substitution
will encourage property owners to come forward.</div>
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The revised county ordinance would also increase permissible
levels of meth contamination from .01mg/100 square centimeters to 1.5mg/100
square centimeters, although no level of contamination has been proven to be
safe. Those who have compromised health to begin with can indeed be at
greater risk than the general public. [Note: This change in contamination
levels is not optional for the county since it must conform to levels stated in
the RCW.]</div>
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The landlord of the Myrtle St. rental refused to pay for
testing of the home when the student tenants reported health problems.
(Read more on this <a href="http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Health-dept-rental-home-contaminated-with-meth-college-students-must-move-234829651.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://zonemaven.blogspot.com/2014/02/meth-contaminated-rental-shut-down.html" target="_blank">here</a>) The students paid for the tests
themselves and discovered a contamination level of 1.4 mg/100 square centimeters,
well above the .01mg/100 square centimeters which was the minimum acceptable
level at the time. By raising the minimal levels to 1.5mg/square centimeters as
in the proposed ordinance, the Myrtle St. property would not be considered
contaminated. Not surprisingly, further testing at Myrtle St. at the time by a
contamination abatement contractor found levels at 4.2mg/100 square
centimeters, well above even the expanded levels proposed to the County
Council. Under the current changes, these extremely high levels would never
have surfaced and the women would have been left to their own, limited devices.</div>
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So who loses under this proposed scenario? The tenants,
the hotel room occupier, the purchaser of a home. With contamination
considered anything over 1.5mg/100 square centimeters, the property owner,
landlord and hotel management get a pass. Nothing will cloud the property title
with respect to meth use sites under the new regime. Furthermore, it all comes
down to money: the county will save on abatement management costs and the
landlord/home owner will save with more lenient clean up rules. The home
purchaser, the tenant and hotel guest will take on more risk. This is a race to
the bottom in health management.</div>
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Note to readers: An agenda bill for the proposed 3 March hearing is now posted on the <a href="http://www.co.whatcom.wa.us/council/" target="_blank">county council's website</a>. </div>
Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-78513049605159528532015-01-29T08:54:00.000-08:002015-01-30T08:57:19.827-08:00Rental Inspections - Start-Up Funded - Now Consider the Inspection ChecklistWith the start-up funding for the rental registration and inspection program approved at the 26 January city council meeting, the council will soon take up one of the most important aspects of the new ordinance, the inspection checklist. A draft checklist was provided by staff to the council at the last council meeting, however, there was little discussion at that time and council deferred consideration of the item until February. You can find the proposed inspection list among the agenda items <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=310&doctype=agenda&itemid=4884" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
The list appears fairly comprehensive, however, there are still several large issues to be decided by the council. Those issues have to do with mold, lead paint and methamphetamine contamination. The recent events surrounding the condemnation of the Aloha Motel for reasons having to do with meth contamination of most of its rooms have brought into question the very real possibility that many of our rentals are similarly contaminated without the knowledge of either the landlords or the tenants.<br />
<br />
Just one year ago a <a href="http://zonemaven.blogspot.com/2014/02/meth-contaminated-rental-shut-down.html" target="_blank">rental home on E. Myrtle St. was shut down</a> by the health department for meth contamination. The three female student renters had been sickened by the meth vapors but pleas to the landlord for meth testing were rejected. In desperation, the women contacted the county health department and paid for meth tests. The tests came back positive, showing a meth contamination substantially beyond any tolerable amount. The house was condemned until remediation could be carried out. My fear is that a substantial number of our rentals in Bellingham are similarly contaminated and renters are sickened but do not know the reason. They may be courting long term, negative and devastating health effects.<br />
<br />
For that reason, I would like the council to add to the requirements for inspection under this ordinance that every three years the landlord present a meth inspection certificate indicating that the rental unit is free of contamination. For apartment complexes, a percentage sample of units would suffice, however, for single family, duplexes, detached ADUs, etc., all units would have to be tested. Testing requirements, such as number of rooms to be tested in a unit, must be worked out to ensure that the sampling is meaningful. Coordination with the Whatcom County Health Department must be effected to ensure such a requirement placed on landlords is feasible through that agency or other means.<br />
<br />
Mold is ubiquitous in this region but not all mold is a health hazard. I understand that there is no testable danger level for mold (<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mold/default.htm" target="_blank">CDC source</a>) and that mold is a symptom of issues with other systems within a rental unit such as inadequate ventilation, poor heating, plumbing leaks, etc. Mold may also particularly affect certain people who suffer from lung ailments such as asthma while others individuals are fine. Once these deficiencies are found and corrected the mold can be cleaned up and further contamination stopped. However, mold contamination can produce a serious hazard if it long time neglect leads to undermining the structural integrity of a rental unit. In that case inspection of and repairs to joists, studs, wallboard, siding, etc., will be necessary. <br />
<br />
Lead toxicity is a problem mostly with respect to lead-based paint used in homes prior to 1978. There is no testable limit for lead-based paint except to note that it is present (<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/" target="_blank">CDC Source</a>). Finding lead in the paint of rental units can serve as a notice to tenants to get their blood tested (the only way to test lead exposure) but this assumes that renters have adequate medical coverage. At the minimum, the council should advocate that rental inspections of units build before 1978 occasion a warning to landlords and tenants about the dangers of lead-based paint and that any indication that paint in these units is flaking, notice of such imminent danger of contamination also be provided to the same parties.<br />
<br />
For the first time in the years I have been advocating on the subject of rental inspections, I feel that the council and the city management are fully on board with producing an effective program to ensure the health and safety of tenants. I have spoken about the problems above to our new Planning Director, Rick Sepler and to our City Building Official, Jim Tinner. Both are approaching these issues with diligence. I expect that the council will be provided with the best information available in order to ensure the adoption of an inspection checklist that will protect our renters.<br />
<br />
<br />Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-48510098369427875552015-01-22T09:10:00.000-08:002015-01-22T09:10:10.831-08:00City Council Takes Up Rental Registration Start-Up Funds<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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The Finance and Personnel Committee
(Pinky Vargas Chair/ Michael Lilliquist; Daniel Hammill) will review the
Planning Department's proposed start-up budget for the rental registration and inspection ordinance This is scheduled
for 2:15 next Monday, 26 January at the committee meeting in council chambers. In the agenda
packet is a draft ordinance with the financial changes and a proposed
inspection checklist for information only as the list is still under development. The start-up budget is reasonable and the monies provided will soon be offset by the fees as more than 8,000 rental properties (with 14,000 units) are registered later this year. </div>
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I have reviewed the checklist and it
appears to be fairly comprehensive. It seems to be long but most of the space
is taken up by explanatory notes that reference various building codes. I do
note the absence of the categories of mold, methamphetamine and lead paint.
<a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=310&doctype=agenda&itemid=4884">This link </a>will take you directly to the agenda item materials on the city's website. </div>
Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-54505550823692537922014-12-28T18:17:00.000-08:002014-12-29T14:56:46.834-08:00Bellingham City Council Passes Rental Ordinance - Includes Mandatory InspectionsOn December 15, 2014 the Bellingham City Council passed a rental ordinance that includes not only registration but mandatory inspections. The draft ordinance minus a few last minute edits by the city council can be found <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/cache/2/ndetgcuzdo3ategoxka2udoj/1572112292014084657296.PDF">here</a>.<br />
<br />
I was not in town but through the <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/bellingham-city-council-approves-rental-inspections">NWCitizen</a> editor I was able to post the following to the site regarding the passage of this law:<br />
<br />
<br />
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<b><i>"One must catch one's breath! </i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
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<b><i>The vote of the Bellingham City Council on Monday night [15 December] is a
stunning reversal of the consensus of the council from earlier this year, at
which time only a weak rental registration program was under
consideration. Much of the credit for the passage of this ordinance
surely goes to the Western Washington University students who have worked hard
over the past 4-5 years. They spoke the truth to the opposition (the
landlords) whose arguments to defeat this measure were astoundingly repudiated
by the 7-0 vote. No stronger message could have been sent. </i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
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<b><i>Also in for thanks are council members Jack Weiss and
Michael Lilliquist who worked hard behind the scenes to shepherd this measure
to passage. Dozens of Bellingham citizens also worked diligently over the
last 10 years to speak to the reality of renting in Bellingham. </i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
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<b><i>Based on a meeting I had several weeks ago with our new
planning director, Rick Sepler, I expect we will see rapid action in putting
this measure into effect. Rick seems to me to be a no-nonsense manager
who will meet deadlines and develop accurate information for the
council. <span style="color: #990000;">Nevertheless, we still need to be vigilant about a process
that has yet to be developed to register rentals and then begin inspections in
2015.</span></i></b><br />
<br /></div>
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<b><i>Again, thanks to our City Council for this measure to ensure
the health and safety of the tenants in Bellingham."</i></b></div>
<br />
Since my return to Bellingham last week, I have been reviewing the video of the discussion of this ordinance at the afternoon session of the Committee of the Whole and at the evening session of the full council at which the vote to approve was taken. I will have more comments on those council discussions and the unfolding process over the next few weeks.<br />
<br />Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-91337691434485966282014-12-11T09:20:00.001-08:002014-12-11T09:20:11.359-08:00City Council Moving Rapidly on Rental Registration and Inspections<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eqA1D5ysHU0/VInQpqQzsvI/AAAAAAAAAls/4FKBserwkOA/s1600/inspection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eqA1D5ysHU0/VInQpqQzsvI/AAAAAAAAAls/4FKBserwkOA/s1600/inspection.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
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After a hearing on a draft registration-only rental
ordinance and a <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=262&doctype=AGENDA">work session on the same on 17 November</a>, the City Council asked
the city staff to prepare cost information and other data that would support an
inspection component to a city ordinance on rental health and safety.
Then on<a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=213&doctype=AGENDA"> 24 November</a>, the council made and passed several motions to amend the
draft "registration only" proposal that had been proposed by Roxanne
Murphy and approved earlier for further consideration by the full
council. The first motion read "that all rental units subject to
inspection be inspected once every three years provided that an exception be
made for units that pass inspection or first re-inspection, whereby the
inspection frequency shall be every five years." Staff was
instructed to return to the council with an amended draft ordinance on 15
December. In addition, the council voted to eliminate the sunset
provision (1 January 2019) in the draft before them and to add that "the
rental unit associated with properties containing a detached accessory dwelling
unit (ADU) or carriage house be required to be inspected as provided for in the
ordinance."</div>
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These are sea changes in the approach the council had been
taking with respect to rental registration and inspection. Greatly
boosting the chances for the passage of a registration and inspection ordinance
was the announcement by Terry Bornemann that he would now support inspection of
rental units. </div>
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The only problematic portion of the ordinance is that
regarding inspectors. <a href="http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=59.18.125">Washington state law</a> allows landlords to choose a
private inspector. This stemmed from the <a href="http://courts.mrsc.org/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getdoc&DocId=13475&Index=C%3a\dtSearch\zsupreme&HitCount=48&hits=7+10+23+48d+48f+4cb+4f4+523+53c+64b+735+7d9+832+874+8d0+91c+93d+990+9e6+d44+d8d+ebe+f01+f60+fbb+fe0+1008+108b+10c1+114d+11cd+11fc+1211+12cc+12f0+130d+1359+145f+162f+16b3+16e5+1701+176c+178d+181b+187a+188f+1a5f+&SearchForm=%2fsupreme%2findex_dtSearch_form.html#hit1">Washington Supreme Courtdecision</a> on the <a href="https://egov-pasco.com/weblink8/0/doc/498751/Page1.aspx">rental inspection ordinance (Chapter 5.78) </a> that Pasco, WA
passed in the late 1990s. Our city attorney stated at the 14 November city
council meeting that Bellingham may not be able to mandate that a landlord turn
over to the city the private inspector's inspection report even though RCW
59.18.125 6.e states: "If a rental property owner chooses to hire a qualified
inspector other than a municipal housing code enforcement officer, and a
selected unit of the rental property fails the initial inspection, both the
results of the initial inspection and any certificate of inspection must be
provided to the local municipality." The city attorney argues
that language in the Pasco Supreme Court decision overrides that portion of the
RCW.</div>
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While this is being resolved, the reliance on private
inspectors raises the specter of the privatization or semi-privatization of what
should be an inherently governmental function, that of health and safety of its
citizens. It is not yet clear if the City Council intends to emphasize
private over municipal inspectors. The council will hear more on the
draft ordinance and receive a report from the Bellingham Planning Department at
its <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=229&doctype=AGENDA">15 December meeting</a>.</div>
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[Note: This blog entry also appeared today on the site of <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/council-moving-rapidly-on-rental-registration-and-inspections">NWCitizen</a>.]</div>
Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-66367733673210703482014-11-13T10:43:00.000-08:002014-11-13T12:02:26.314-08:00City Council Work Session on Rental Registration and Inspections<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]-->At the 1pm meeting of the city council's Committee of the Whole this coming Monday (17 Nov), the members will have a <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=262&doctype=AGENDA">work session</a> on the draft ordinance that was the subject of <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=190&doctype=AGENDA">a city council hearing </a>on 27 October. That hearing lasted nearly three hours during which time dozens of citizens voiced their concern that the <a href="http://www.zonemaven.blogspot.com/2014/10/rental-safety-and-health-report-on-city.html">draft measure</a> did not contain an inspection component. After the citizens' comment period, council member Terry Bornemann stated that he had changed his mind and that that he would be supportive of an inspection component.<br />
<br />
Although there will be no comment period during the work session next Monday, I encourage all of you to attend the session as an indication of our support of a rental registration AND inspection ordinance. [Note that the Committee of the Whole will meet earlier at 11am to consider the city budget. They will reconvene after lunch at 1pm to consider the rental ordinance.]<br />
<br />
My most recent letter to the city council follows: <br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;">Dear Council Members,</span></div>
<span style="color: red;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: red;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;">In advance of the work session on rental registration and
inspection on 17 November, I would like to suggest the following while you
consider development of a program for the city:</span></div>
<span style="color: red;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: red;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;">There seems to have been a morphing from a per unit fee to a
per "property" fee. I am not sure what occasioned that but it
is unnecessarily restrictive. It weighs favorably on the side of those
with the largest properties (for what reason?) and it markedly reduces the
potential income to finance the hiring of staff and the administration of a
program. The program with all its facets should be developed and then costed out in order to define the fee structure. This is basic program
management. </span></div>
<span style="color: red;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: red;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">I ask also that you challenge the bloated estimates provided
by staff months ago on the cost of hiring code enforcement personnel and
running the program. We know that the local HUD inspector can do almost
2,000 unit inspections per year. This tracks also with Pasco, WA whose
inspector also does the same number of inspections per year. That flies
in the face of the <a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7zCiYjHd3DlUWhfd1BYMWpmN28/edit">estimate</a><span id="goog_2007315790"></span><span id="goog_2007315791"></span> given to us by the Planning Director. Granted there will be some start-up lag but with proper
planning, that lag can be minimized.</span></div>
<span style="color: red;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: red;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;">Any inspection program should be included in the fee
structure so that landlords will be encouraged to participate with city
inspectors rather than hire private firms. Relying primarily on private
inspectors for periodic inspections means that the city neither gains nor
retains any institutional knowledge of the city’s rental units. Paper reports
from private inspectors are no substitute for the experience of a city
inspector whose employment is, for all intents and purposes, long term. The
Mayor and the Planning Director would have no group of in-house code
enforcement officers to whom they can go for experiential knowledge.
Furthermore, there is no indication that there are sufficient private sector
home inspectors to fulfill the needs of the landlords who might want to hire
one.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;"></span>
<span style="color: red;"><br />
Granted, the use of private inspectors is allowed under law. In fact, this was
one of the challenges to the Pasco licensing ordinance, that city inspectors
would be the sole inspectors. The landlords there wanted the option to hire
their own. They have that option now and is written into the state law passed a
few years ago. I am not sure how that serves the landlords since a properly
structured program with a revenue neutral fee system (the program fees will pay
for the program) will spread the cost of inspections over all landlords and
result in much lower per unit inspection costs. </span></div>
<span style="color: red;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: red;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;">I also suggest that you replace any sunset provision with a
provision that mandates a program review after 4 or 5 years. At that
point, the council can, based on the facts surfaced by the review, decide to
maintain, modify or end the program. The review should be inclusive of
city staff (based on data), landlord experience and renter experience that
would be surface through a hearing and/or a professional random survey.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;">Regards,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;">Dick Conoboy </span></div>
Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-51817258129499196132014-10-29T10:15:00.001-07:002014-10-29T10:23:30.238-07:00Rental Safety and Health - Report on the City Council Hearing of 27 Oct<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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At times, I find that another publication has presented such a succinct summary of the rental licensing and inspection issue here in Bellingham that it would serve little to write separately on the issue. The article below is from the 29 Oct 2014 of the Cascadia Weekly in the Gristle*, written by Tim Johnson. It was penned just after a three hour hearing at the city council wherein the public commented on <a href="http://www.zonemaven.blogspot.com/2014/08/councilmember-murphys-proposed-rental.html">a version of a registration-only rental health and safety ordinance</a> that had been submitted by council member Roxanne Murphy.<br />
<br />
Of note but not mentioned in the article was the announcement by council member Terry Bornemann that he would be supportive of rental registration with some form of inspection. </div>
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<b>See No Evil, Speak No Evil </b></div>
<b>
</b><br />
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<b>Tuesday, October 28, 2014 </b></div>
<b>
</b><br />
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<br /></div>
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</b><br />
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<b>SEE NO EVIL, SPEAK NO EVIL: The end was in the beginning;
and after a long, long and ambitious evening session filled with impassioned
testimony on the issue of landlord licensing, Bellingham City Council appears
ready to approve what was first set in front of them uncolored by the passion.
They were determined not to kick the can down the road—though kick it they did,
to another special work session in November to again consider testimony—and
determined to resolve something on a rental housing registration concept that
has boomeranged around the halls of city government for more than two decades.
Beyond that, they’re determined not to do very much.</b></div>
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<b>
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<b>Bellingham City Council veteran Gene Knutson, who was
feeling unwell, was excused from the meeting at 10:30pm, prompting council to
continue their deliberations at a later date bolstered by additional
information from staff. Council pressed on, completing city business at
midnight. Gene also represents the very philosophic and historic heart of this
ages-old issue—determined to do something, yes, about improving the health and
safety of rentals; at a loss to know quite what to do, or to what extent to do it.</b></div>
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</b><br />
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<b>“If we’re going to do something,” Gene grumbled, “we need to
do it. Either way, we need to move on. For God’s sake, let’s get this done
before the end of the year.”</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<b>
</b><br />
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<b>But moving on without achieving something meaningful only
invites the issue back, and this issue has been bouncing back to Gene on
council for 20 years.</b></div>
<b>
</b><br />
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<b>On paper before them, City Council faces a mingy, bare bones
licensing program that would place a little sticker somewhere in each of 6,000
rental units </b><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[Zonemaven note: There are actually 17,000+ rental units in Bellingham of which about 3,000 are under another inspection regime such as HUD. The 14,000 remaining <u>units</u> are found in 6,000 <u>properties.</u>]</span></i><b> with a phone number renters can call when they perceive their
health is in danger. This renters were already free to do. How might they know
they’re in danger? Shrug. The proposed ordinance exempts entire classes of
rental properties and provides little incentive for the classes that remain to comply.
Scofflaws of the sort a rental inspection program was intended to bring into
line can easily scoff off the passive requirements of this complaint-driven
program.</b></div>
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</b><br />
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<b>Here’s the essential takeway: When a program is introduced
to change the status quo and the beneficiaries of the status quo praise its
final form and fall upon one another with fierce hugs of triumphant joy, you
know the program you introduced hasn’t accomplished much to change the status
quo. If it doesn’t change the status quo, what’s the point of the legislation?</b></div>
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</b><br />
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<b>Council’s current proposal does nothing to shift the power
imbalance between those who hold all the rights of property owners versus those
who hold few of those rights as tenants, yet who nevertheless form roughly half
the city’s population. This is not democracy; this is rentier capitalism
unchecked. The proposed ordinance does very little to improve health and safety
beyond what’s already available in the legal toolkit.</b></div>
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</b><br />
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<b>“A complaint-based system does not work,” the York Neighborhood
Association board asserted in comments to council. “It has failed in Bellingham
and other cities. It puts the burden on the tenant to fight one-on-one with the
landlord who has an unfair advantage and can retaliate by raising the rent, not
giving a good reference, or just ignoring the complaint altogether, which does
happen.”</b></div>
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<b>
</b><br />
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<b>A more robust proposal that included a modest audit of the
interiors of Bellingham’s rental housing stock (currently obtainable only
through warrant and judicial process) was driven off the rails earlier this
year by Council member Roxanne Murphy, who proposed a model similar to one she
was familiar with in the City of Tacoma: The exteriors of units provide
sufficient evidence about the interiors of units; a trimmed lawn correlates
with an IEEE-approved UL-compliant breaker box.</b></div>
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<b>
</b><br />
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<b>This is obviously an error in class and in kind: Bellingham
does not have blighted or shabby boroughs that reveal themselves on
pass-through. It does have a large number of rentals converted by builders of all
skill ranges from aging housing stock in well-maintained neighborhoods.
Nevertheless, Murphy’s passionate advocacy for a “see no evil, speak no evil”
minimalist approach drew support from the target audience of landlords and
property managers who in turn have knocked away the pins in support of a more
robust program. Faced with division and aggressive counterfactuals, council
policy has descended to the lowest common points upon which they might all
agree.</b></div>
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</b><br />
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<b>“It’s not about loud parties, garbage, and unmowed lawns,”
York board members commented. “Other enforcement tools exist to manage
nuisances. No enforcement tools exist to evaluate the internal conditions of
Bellingham’s rental housing. It’s about decent housing for all and thriving
neighborhoods. Bellingham’s neighborhoods, particularly the older ones, are a
patchwork quilt of decaying, neglected properties amongst well-maintained
historic housing.”</b></div>
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<b>
</b><br />
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<b>Judging from the public testimony of landlords, tenants and
property managers, 95 percent of Bellingham’s rental housing is in great shape,
hurrah. From what data does this estimate arrive? Apparently (but by no means
certainly) from complaints in the system about the remaining 5 percent of stock
submitted by tenants who risk reprisal in the form of eviction and loss of
referrals and deposits. It’s a spurious statistic—it might even be true—but the
proposed ordinance does nothing to improve collection of this data, which in
early years might just be the most important component of a licensing program:
actual facts upon which to frame wise policy.</b></div>
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<b>
</b><br />
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<b>Imagine if the city monitored its restaurants in the same
way, based on customer complaints of gagging and stomach pains. A list on the
city’s website of eateries that do not induce gastric suffering.</b></div>
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<b>
</b><br />
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<b>Oy, no wonder Gene was feeling unwell! Get well.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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* Reproduced with Permission of the author. </div>
Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-32799650322898082372014-10-23T08:12:00.001-07:002014-10-23T08:14:16.879-07:00York Neighborhood Supports Rental Registration AND Inspections<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M1fBXhA88QQ/VEffYV9CEYI/AAAAAAAAAlc/nKPOkjuHrv8/s1600/rentalsafety.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M1fBXhA88QQ/VEffYV9CEYI/AAAAAAAAAlc/nKPOkjuHrv8/s1600/rentalsafety.jpg" height="160" width="320" /></a></div>
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The York Neighborhood has just sent (see below) a second letter this year to the City Council in support of a Rental Health and Safety Ordinance in Bellingham. York joins with other neighborhoods that have already gone on the record with the City Council in support of not only licensing but inspecting all rentals. You can read the letters of the other neighborhoods that have joined in this call for action by clicking on the name of the neighborhood: <a href="http://www.zonemaven.blogspot.com/2014/06/samish-neighborhood-supports-rental.html">Samish</a>, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7zCiYjHd3DlWW1GUHB4QkkxMTg/view?usp=sharing">Fairhaven</a>, <a href="http://www.zonemaven.blogspot.com/2014/06/sehome-neighborhood-also-supporting.html">Sehome</a>, and <a href="http://www.zonemaven.blogspot.com/2014/03/associated-students-of-wwu-publish.html">WWU (Associated Students).</a> The Roosevelt Neighborhood also voiced support of an ordinance in a statement to the Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission at its July meeting. </div>
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There will be a hearing on this proposal next Monday, evening, October 27th at the 7pm City Council meeting. You can sign up after 6:30pm to speak in support of adding an inspections component to the draft "registration-only" ordinance to be considered. Tell the council that a rental registration ordinance only perpetuates the current failed system and that regular inspections are required to protect the 40,000 or more Bellingham citizens who live in rentals. To view the hearing materials click <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=190&doctype=AGENDA">here</a> and then scroll to and click on Agenda item<b> </b>20382<b>.<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"></span></b></div>
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Here is the York Neighborhood letter:</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">October 20, 2014</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">Dear City Council:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">We are writing to urge you to support a Rental Health and
Safety Ordinance that will include mandatory inspections of properties. On
January 11, 2011, there were two fires in the York Neighborhood – both
preventable and both related to poor maintenance by the property owners.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">One fire at 1408 Grant St. happened in the middle of the
night while the three tenants were sleeping. One of them got up to get something to eat
and heard the fire in the attic as a piece of the ceiling fell into the second floor
bathroom. Fortunately, all three escaped unharmed. The cause of the fire, as reported by the
Fire Marshall Jason Napier,was “electrical failure” and “malfunction” in the
electrical junction box in the attic. There were no working smoke alarms in the house.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">The second fire happened earlier the same day at 1418 Ellis
St. The cause of the fire was a fan that was part of the heating system was not
properly bolted on; it fell to the floor and caught the rug on fire. Fire
Marshall Jason Napier reported: “The building was rewired by the owner some years ago. None of it was ever
inspected for code compliance.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">We do not think these failures in rental property
maintenance are an anomaly. We</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">believe our city has numerous properties that would not pass
a basic building safety inspection. Housing safety standards should be enforced
through an inspection program, with expert guidance on how to fix problems.
Enforcement should include penalties. An inspection “check-<span style="font-family: "MS Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";"></span>list,” such as the one
used for Section 8 housing is 1½ pages and is a subset of the building code. It
is a fair and reasonable list of basic safety expectations. A “registry” of
rental properties does nothing to create better code enforcement.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">A complaint-<span style="font-family: "MS Gothic"; mso-bidi-font-family: "MS Gothic";"></span>based system does not work. It has
failed in Bellingham and other cities. It puts the burden on the tenant to
fight one-on-one
with the landlord who has an unfair advantage and can retaliate by raising the
rent, not giving a good reference, or just ignoring the complaint all together
which does happen.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">We support “healthy homes” for our city. Half of our city’s
housing is rentals and are an essential part of the community’s quality of life.
Substandard housing creates hazards for the tenants, neighbors and deteriorates our
neighborhoods.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">We urge the City Council to proactively regulate the rental
industry. Rentals are</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">businesses, and like other businesses they should be
expected to comply with licensing, inspections and oversight. Treating rentals
as businesses is a fair practice.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">It’s not about loud parties, garbage, and unmowed lawns.
Other enforcement tools exist to manage nuisances. No enforcement tools exist to evaluate
the internal conditions of Bellingham’s rental housing. <b>It’s about decent housing for
all and thriving neighborhoods.</b> Bellingham’s neighborhoods, particularly the
older ones, are a patchwork quilt of decaying, neglected properties amongst
well-maintained
historic housing. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">Please vote to support rental licensing with inspections.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">Sincerely, </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">Members of the York Neighborhood Association Board</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">Don Hilty-Jones - President</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">Mark Schofield - Vice President</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">Anne Mackie - Secretary</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">Lisa Anderson - Treasurer</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: red;">At-Large Board Members: Cory Anderson, Kirsti Charlton, Robb
Correll, Tom Scott</span></span></div>
Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-12566268399261268492014-10-14T08:32:00.000-07:002014-10-14T08:32:00.407-07:00Rentals and Meth<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-907juaLz0QE/VD0_nzAVcOI/AAAAAAAAAlE/xGCj8kcLdTU/s1600/P1120170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-907juaLz0QE/VD0_nzAVcOI/AAAAAAAAAlE/xGCj8kcLdTU/s1600/P1120170.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unfit for habitation - rooms red-tagged at the Aloha Motel</td></tr>
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The city of Bellingham is learning that renting a place to stay can be extremely dangerous to one's health. The Aloha and Villa motels on Samish Way now have a total of 17 rooms declared unfit for human habitation due to contamination caused by methamphetamine smokers. For more information you can read the Bellingham Herald story of 12 October, <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SsUls2vC7WOQ3qZuKcAvNj_fd21159rljUjZeDh9p_k/edit?usp=sharing"><i>Tests Show Meth Contamination in 17 Rooms at Two Samish Way Motels</i></a>. </div>
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It is not too difficult to make the assumption that some of our rental houses and apartments are similarly contaminated. In late 2013 a rental home on Myrtle St. was closed by the health department when three student renters were made ill by meth contamination. I wrote about this in my 13 February 2014 blog entry entitled <a href="http://zonemaven.blogspot.com/2014/02/meth-contaminated-rental-shut-down.html"><i>Meth Contaminated Rental Shut Down</i></a>.</div>
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However, meth contamination is but one of many problems renters face in living in leased dwellings in Bellingham. The Herald article quoted Mayor Linville as saying, "Dangerous public health risks such as meth contamination are unacceptable, no matter where they are in Bellingham." The fact is that we do have a dangerous public health and safety risk that has been ignored for decades, our uninspected rental housing stock. </div>
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Unfortunately for the tens of thousands of renters in Bellingham, the proposed ordinance on rentals that will be considered at a city council hearing on 27 October, has no mandatory inspection provision. This is a continuation of the current and failed complaint based system. It is time for the city to begin to "red-tag" the dangerous rental homes and apartment units.</div>
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In order for the <a href="http://zonemaven.blogspot.com/2014/08/councilmember-murphys-proposed-rental.html">current proposal</a> to provide any meaningful protection whatsoever for Bellingham's renters it must be modified to include these elements.</div>
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1. Periodic inspections of all rentals in accordance
with the limits established by current RCW. We should envision an
inspection of a rental unit once every three years, exceptions being those
units inspected under other government programs. Inspections of
apartment complexes can be made by using a percentage factor that will provide
an adequate representation of the condition of the units throughout. </div>
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2. Hiring of sufficient city inspectors
(government employees) to effect the inspections to achieve the periodic rate. </div>
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3. The fixing of the rental licensing rate as a
function of the cost of the program as established, i.e., administration,
inspections, salaries, equipment, etc. In other words, the council
creates the program which is then costed out and fees established as a function
of that amount. The cost of the periodic inspections would be included in
the licensing fee but landlords may be assessed a surcharge for reinspections
due to life/safety findings. [Note: RCW allows a landlord to hire a
private inspector but that should be at his/her own cost. If so, he/she
would forfeit the city conducted inspection that is included in the licensing
fee.] </div>
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4. Annual reports to the council and the public on the
results of the inspection regime. </div>
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5. Elimination of the sunset provision</div>
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There is still time before the 27 October hearing to write to your council representatives and insist on an inspection program that is worthwhile and effective. Write to them now at: <a href="mailto:ccmail@cob.org">ccmail@cob.org</a>. </div>
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Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-6537479261401070962014-10-02T13:26:00.001-07:002014-10-02T13:26:54.330-07:00Rental Conditions – A Real Estate Inspector’s View<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3lZZfJPtWWg/VC12ptTYiII/AAAAAAAAAk0/617YFHsdxV0/s1600/P1030885.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3lZZfJPtWWg/VC12ptTYiII/AAAAAAAAAk0/617YFHsdxV0/s1600/P1030885.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dangerous electrical wiring in rental on Grant St.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Reality check. What do real estate inspectors find here in Bellingham when they conduct inspections for potential
buyers of existing rental properties?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Plenty, it seems.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I recently had
the opportunity to speak with a home inspector who has spent over twenty years
in commercial and residential construction and the last ten years as an
inspector of homes, both rental and owner-occupied units.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This individual has thoroughly inspected hundreds of
rentals - single family, duplexes, and various multi-unit apartment
complexes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He stated that the conditions
vary greatly due to the age and condition of the property.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">In Bellingham he
claims that there are two distinct types of rental properties, rentals for college
students and rentals for the general market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His experience is that often the college rentals are older homes
converted to rented rooms where the renters share bathrooms and kitchens.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Overall he has
discovered that the college rentals tend to be less well maintained with more
reported findings such as:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1) Smoke and
carbon monoxide detectors removed</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2) Damaged
electrical system</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">3) Leaking
plumbing systems</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">4) Poor
ventilation in bathrooms and kitchens causing mildew or mold</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">5) Drywall, door,
window or flooring damage</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">6) Old heating
systems that may cause carbon monoxide to leak in to the home</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Similarly, he has
experienced that rental units for the general population of renters are found
with the following issues:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">1) Improperly
installed or damaged exterior stairs or decks</span></div>
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</span><div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">2) Leaking
plumbing systems</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">3) Lack of smoke
or carbon monoxide detectors in proper locations</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">4) Lack of
ventilation causing mildew or mold</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">5) Electrical
systems without <a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/GFCI">GFCI</a> (Ground Fault Circuit Interruption) protection</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">6) Old heating
systems that may cause carbon monoxide to leak in to the home</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">He also states
that there are those landlords who buy a property, collect rent, and spend
little money on repairs. In these cases, he continues, rent is often low and
living conditions are poor. <span style="color: red;"><b>Renters do not report problems for fear that the
rent will go up</b>.</span> The landlords can then easily turn a blind eye to problems. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">He continues by
saying that while many landlords see their rentals as investments and work to
keep them in good condition by repairing items brought to their attention, <span style="color: red;"><b>the
problem is they are not often educated on operations and safety requirements
making them unaware of serious conditions that may exist. </b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Of the hundreds
of rentals this inspector has seen, he estimates that about 15% have serious condition
issues that render the unit dangerous to live in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But do not let the percentage figure mislead you. This percentage, if extrapolated into a number
of rental units, indicates that an inspection of all rental units in Bellingham
(about 14,000*) would uncover approximately 2,000 to 2,500 unfit units.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore, <span style="color: red;"><b>given the average occupancy of a
dwelling unit in Bellingham, that means that from 4,500 to 5,500 human beings
(adults and children) are, <u>AT THE MOMENT YOU ARE READING THIS</u>, living in dangerous conditions.</b></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">None of this information is new or surprising. I have been reporting this kind of data for years. (Check my articles <a href="http://zonemaven.blogspot.com/2013/04/off-campus-rentals-student-life-survey.html">here</a> and <a href="http://zonemaven.blogspot.com/2011/04/survey-on-rental-conditions-bellingham.html">here</a> for examples) The problem is that few are paying attention while the real estate and landlord groups claim the problem can be solved by being nice to them and educating the tenants. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">On October 27th
the city council will conduct a <a href="http://www.cob.org/cob/Pubnot.nsf/frmNotice/5D64F495E7FA09C888257D5F00605F2E?OpenDocument">public hearing</a> on a proposed ordinance that would
require landlords merely to register their properties with the city. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No inspections would be<span style="font-size: small;"></span> required.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
proposal by council member Roxanne Murphy is based on a similar ordinance Murphy
encountered in Tacoma , WA where she lived prior to moving to Bellingham
recently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the ordinance met with
some success in correcting exterior signs of blight, it failed in correcting
serious interior defects in unsafe and unhealthy rental units across the
board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span>My article <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/councilmember-murphys-proposed-rental-ordinance-is-deeply-flawed">"Councilmember Murphy's Proposed Rental Ordinance Is Deeply Flawed" </a>contains more
information on Tacoma’s experience and belies Murphy's claim that "maybe 5%" of Bellingham rentals are in poor condition.</div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">*There are over 17,000 rental units in Bellingham, however, approximately 3,000 are controlled by and already inspected by other agencies such as HUD (Housing and Urban Development). </span> </span></div>
Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-57227052940590948362014-08-01T08:40:00.000-07:002014-08-01T14:07:20.463-07:00Councilmember Murphy’s Proposed Rental Ordinance Is Deeply Flawed<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LuxM0SzW2Rs/U9u0MQq19sI/AAAAAAAAAkk/hmTOM_jIkfk/s1600/flawed.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LuxM0SzW2Rs/U9u0MQq19sI/AAAAAAAAAkk/hmTOM_jIkfk/s1600/flawed.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>Summary: Council Member Roxanne Murphy has championed a <a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7zCiYjHd3DlYWdpMU9mUzlDWkk/edit">"registration-only"rental ordinance</a> program for Bellingham based on what she considers is a
successful program in Tacoma, from where she recently moved. After
conducting a series of interviews with Tacoma officials and neighborhood
leaders, I have determined that the program in Tacoma was designed to clean up
drug houses and fight gang problems but has barely scraped the surface of
correcting unsafe rental housing conditions. To use Tacoma's ordinance as a
model for Bellingham moves us in the wrong direction. While the ordinance in
Tacoma cleaned up neighborhoods -- ridding them of junk and improving exteriors
-- it did very little to correct the substandard conditions of rental housing
with regard to wiring, plumbing, mold, structural problems, and vermin. One
official even said rental owners had learned how to "game" the
system: clean up the outside to avoid an internal inspection.</i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
In May of this year, At-Large City Council Representative Roxanne Murphy
proposed a rental ordinance she indicated was modeled from a similar ordinance
in effect in Tacoma, WA (pop. 200,000), from which she had recently moved. This
version of a rental ordinance for Bellingham has been chosen for further
consideration and an eventual hearing later this year, possibly in September.
Ms Murphy indicated that the Tacoma ordinance was very successful, although it
relied on complaints only and mandated no inspections on a regular basis. In an
effort to verify these claims, I spoke to several Tacoma officials including
the head of the Community Services Department, the manager of the office of
Taxation and Licensing and the head of the Code Enforcement office. I also
contacted the heads of Tacoma’s eight neighborhood councils, however, only
three responded by email. One I was able to contact by telephone. Only one
neighborhood council head was able to speak to the issue of rental licensing in
Tacoma. The others referred me to city officials, claiming they did not know
much about the legislation or its effectiveness. The reality of Tacoma’s
program does not inspire confidence.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
I learned that Tacoma has had a requirement since 2006 for all landlords to
register as businesses. Their code mandated no periodic inspections. In
essence, their complaint-only system was a failure. In 2012, the Tacoma City
Council added a requirement for regular inspections only if a complaint was
received on a rental unit, and as a result, the “points” given during the exterior
inspection exceeded a certain number based on their inspection criteria. The
rewrite of the ordinance was part of Tacoma’s city-wide effort to take care of
some festering problems by revising ordinances in order to clean up
neighborhoods and combat serious crime in the form of rental units being used
as gang and drug houses. Of special focus was the Hilltop area of Tacoma which
overlapped two of the city’s official neighborhoods. This effort to attack the
health and safety issues inside rentals throughout the city was only incidental
to the overall effort to “clean up” neighborhoods in a much broader sense.
Evidently, the Hilltop neighborhood was transformed with respect to junky,
unkempt looking rentals and the gangs and druggies fled to other places. Much
trash was removed and lawns mowed. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
The reality behind Tacoma’s rental licensing ordinance is that nearly one-half
of all the city’s landlords, who number about 10,000, have failed to register
as businesses since 2006. There are no active efforts to pursue landlords who
have not obtained a license. Scofflaws are discovered only incidental to other
actions, such as a complaint about the appearance of a rental unit. Complaints,
at the rate of 50 or 60 per week, that flow into the city code enforcement
office are mostly about nuisances, trash, hulk vehicles and lack of permits.
Only about 3 each week concern rental building violations, their
conditions. These complaints trigger minimally an inspection of the outside
of the rental unit. At that time, an assumption is made that the inside of the
unit is also in poor condition if the number of points accumulated during the outside
inspection exceeds a certain level. If that level is exceeded, the landlord
will have to pay for an additional and “provisional” license which requires
re-inspections for a certain period. Of course if a tenant complains
about the interior conditions, an inspection is made of the inside of the unit
immediately, however, that is rare since most tenants do not even know what to
look for in the way of dangerous conditions. Since the inception of the
inspection requirement in 2012, there have been only 70 such “provisional”
licenses mandated. With 40,000 rental units in Tacoma, that means a mere 0.18%
(eighteen one hundredths of one percent) have been subject to any periodic
inspection regime for safety and health issues inside rental units. Otherwise,
success is measured by repaired gutters, towed cars, junk removal and outside
paint jobs. As mentioned in the summary above, over the past several years the
landlords have, not surprisingly, started to game the system. By mowing the
lawn and picking up trash, landlords avoid complaints by neighbors that would
lead to a more thorough inspection of the interior of the unit. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
On 9 June, Councilmember Murphy stated from the Bellingham council dais that
“maybe 5%” of Bellingham’s rentals could be a threat to tenants’ health and
safety. She provided absolutely no basis for that estimate nor did she respond
to my invitations to review data. The Tacoma code, which Ms Murphy is
promoting, actually states that the city of Tacoma estimates 3-5% of the rental
units in the city are “below the minimum building standards” under <a href="http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?Cite=59.18.060">RCW 59.18.060</a>.
Could this be the source of Ms Murphy’s contention that Bellingham has a
similar percentage of rentals that present a health or safety threat?
When I inquired about the 3-5% figure in my conversations with Tacoma city
officials, I learned the percentage was merely a guess based upon the previous
history of complaints developed under the former (failed) complaint-only system
which has, in essence, been perpetuated as of 2012. Consequently, Tacoma used
that as part of the rationale for its rental inspection ordinance. I was not
surprised to find out that the local Rental Housing Association assisted in
writing the revised ordinance after the real estate and rental industries
vehemently rejected earlier versions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Furthermore, this 3-5 % number given by Ms Murphy flies in the face of the
results of inspection ordinances in other cities in the U.S., such as Pasco,
WA; Gresham, OR; or Sacramento, CA, where from 10% to 30% of units were found
to have health and safety issues. These results were mirrored in Bellingham by
two student surveys indicating the city’s rentals may have serious deficiencies
in 20-30% of the units. While these percentages may seem small, when
calculated, the number of actual units affected in Bellingham’s rental market
ranges from 2,800 to 4,200 units that would house from 5,000 to 9,000 tenants
based on average occupancy figures. Using Tacoma’s experience and complaint
rate, it would take any complaint-only system in Bellingham hundreds of years
to surface all the poor rental units…maybe.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Tacoma may have met with some success but Bellingham has no comparable
crime-ridden neighborhoods. The Tacoma ordinance was merely one part of a wide
effort to clean up the city, but the rental ordinance they put in place has
been manifestly inadequate to address the health and safety of tenants as there
are no overall periodic inspections of the interior of the rental units.
Furthermore, to cite Tacoma’s efforts as an example of a licensing and
inspection program that has gone well is misleading at best and a serious
disservice to tenants at worst. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
The Bellingham City Council should take this information into consideration and
reject the draft ordinance of Ms Murphy. The experience of Tacoma is a prime
example of the abject failure of complaint-based systems in getting to the
heart of the problem of resolving health and safety dangers inside rental
units. Yet, this same system is being promoted as the solution to eliminating
dangerous health and safety conditions here. The council should redraft a
proposal to include periodic inspections of all rentals. Anything less will
perpetuate the danger renters face in this city on a daily basis.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Note: This article appeared on 1 Aug 2014 on NWCitizen. Click <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/councilmember-murphys-proposed-rental-ordinance-is-deeply-flawed">here</a> to see the article on that site. </span></i></span></div>
Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-39087521813051589212014-07-22T08:43:00.001-07:002014-07-22T08:43:35.112-07:00 What Landlords Need to Know about Rental Registration <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">[Note: The following was <a href="http://www.nwcitizen.com/entry/what-landlords-need-to-know-about-rental-registration">published in NWCitizen</a> on 21 Jul 2014 by Theo Bickel, a recent Political Science graduate of Western Washington University. It is reproduced here with his permission.Theo has been working with members of the student body and the student government to ensure that Bellingham landlords offer safe rental housing and that the city provide inspections of all rentals.]</span></span></div>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--Mo4Es6PHys/U81EC6GluQI/AAAAAAAAAkU/7thCFdz0cZw/s1600/P1040901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--Mo4Es6PHys/U81EC6GluQI/AAAAAAAAAkU/7thCFdz0cZw/s1600/P1040901.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i class="caption">A Robust Inspection of This Burned Rental Would Have Saved This Landlord Time and Money
</i></td></tr>
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When discussing rental code enforcement, you may think it's
a dispute between tenants and landlords, or a new draconian tax targeting
landlords. This is not true. Washington law has already established a
landlord’s legal responsibilities and the minimum health and safety standards
of rental properties. The city of Bellingham is discussing the proactive
enforcement of existing laws. Most landlords in this town abide by the laws and
work hard to keep their properties in the best condition they can. However, in
a town with 13,000 rental properties and around 40,000 tenants, many rental
properties contain serious safety code violations and put the lives of tenants,
neighbors, and our entire community at risk.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Since rental properties are an essential part of our
community, their safety is the city's top priority. The city is
discussing proactive code enforcement by requiring rental properties to be
registered with the city after a “self-declaration of compliance with a
published checklist of minimum standards.” This lays out a checklist of
standards that all properties must comply with to make sure there are no unsafe
conditions “that endanger or impair or could endanger or impair the health or
safety of a tenant.” If a rental property is found to be in violation of these
conditions the city will require the landlord bring the property back up to
safe standards with a “certificate of inspection” confirming repairs have been
done. This program would be funded by a baseline fee to all landlords – similar
to a business license. The city would apply fines and civil infractions for
violations of health and safety laws to keep housing up to safe levels.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Rental registration would be a city service providing new
resources and benefits to landlords. Here are the advantages to landlords
in Rental Registration and Code Enforcement.</div>
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<br /></div>
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1. <b>Levels the Playing Field</b> – Currently, landlords who
maintain their properties to safety standards compete against those who do not
maintain their properties, allowing them to decay to unsafe levels. The
registration system is structured to have a minimal impact on landlords who
pass inspections and do not have a history of code violations. Fines escalate
on landlords who have repeated safety violations in their rental properties.
Therefore, this program will lead to a more fair market.</div>
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<br /></div>
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2. <b>Creates Certainty in Rental Market</b> – Registering all
rental properties and bringing unsafe housing up to code will lead to greater
market confidence, sustainable business practices and greater future investment
in the rental market.<br />
<br />
3. <b>Enhances Communication between the City and Landlords</b> – Understanding one’s
rights and responsibilities may be difficult for new landlords. This program
will make city resources and support more accessible. Some examples are:<br />
<br />
- Listing of landlord rights and responsibilities,<br />
- Standards for rental property health and safety,<br />
- Identification of unsafe conditions,<br />
- Assistance of licensed inspectors with professional knowledge about
health and safety standards in buildings,<br />
- Coordinated access to community development non-profits and HUD
programs to help low-income landlords in need of assistance.</div>
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<br /></div>
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4. <b>Creates Advertising</b> – A complete on-line list of rental
properties with valid registration will be available to tenants. Not only will
this site be easy to navigate, but it will also provide advertising to
interested customers. After registered properties are certified, the non-registered
properties will be avoided by tenants.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
5. <b>Improves Safety</b> – Greater maintenance in rental
properties will decrease rental fires and create safer communities that benefit
everyone in Bellingham. Through registration, the city will be able to contact
landlords during emergencies.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
6. <b>Increases Property Values</b> – Rental housing will be
improved by the enforcement of rental property health and safety standards.
Neighborhoods with substandard housing will see new investments and a
significant reduction in blight, leading to healthier and more valuable
communities.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Rental Registration program being discussed in the city
of Bellingham is based upon data from successful implementation of proactive
code enforcement policies in cities across America. These advantages are real,
and they are tangible. Landlords, tenants, and all citizens in the city of
Bellingham will benefit from the registration of rental properties and the
proactive enforcement of health and safety standards. When the worst players of
the rental market take advantage of their tenants, ignore their
responsibilities, and put people in danger, this impacts community members and
landlords who fulfill their duties. Not only is this unfair but it makes it
harder to run an honest business. By having a universal registration system and
a baseline of safety standards, this program can help bring landlords and city
staff together to improve housing in Bellingham.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Support Rental Registration in Bellingham. Write to the
mayor (<a href="mailto:klinville@cob.org">klinville@cob.org</a>) and to the city council (<a href="mailto:ccmail@cob.org">ccmail@cob.org</a>)</div>
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Sources (Each item is a hyperlink):</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.cob.org/documents/planning/community-development/consolidated-plan/2017-full-plan.pdf">Bellingham (Washington). City of Bellingham 2013 – 2017Consolidated Plan. Community Development [2012].</a> </span><br />
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.cob.org/web/council.nsf/0/152AEF29566A84E888257CBD0056C3A8/$File/21apr2014_AB20382.pdf?OpenElement">Bellingham (Washington). City Council Agenda Bill 20382: Abriefing on a draft ordinance to establish a rental registration program. PlanningCommittee. [4/23/2014].</a> </span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://changelabsolutions.org/sites/default/files/Proactive-Rental-Inspection-Programs_Guide_FINAL_20140204.pdf">Change Lab Solutions. A Guide to Proactive Rental InspectionPrograms. 2014. </a></span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.utexas.edu/law/clinics/community/An%20Analysis%20of%20Rental%20Property%20Registration%20in%20Austin.pdf">Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic. AnAnalysis of Rental Property Registration in Austin [Texas]. July 2013. </a></span><br />
</div>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.ncmedicaljournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/NCMJ_73515_FINAL.pdf?origin=publication_detail">North Carolina Medical Journal. Using Housing CodeEnforcement to Improve Healthy Homes. 2012.</a></span></div>
Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7944244558806877209.post-72118253100555090172014-07-10T09:49:00.000-07:002014-07-10T09:59:57.764-07:00Rental Safety and Health Founders at City Council Meeting<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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On Monday evening the city council decided to move forward with the most lax and ineffective version of a rental licensing ordinance. On 23 June, the council's Planning Committee had provided three versions of a rental health and safety ordinance to the Committee of the Whole for consideration at the 7 Jul council session. You can view a summary chart of those options <a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7zCiYjHd3DlelZjT20wMmJWN1U/edit">here</a>.</div>
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Unfortunately, the Committee of the Whole chose Option 1, the one proffered by Council Member Murphy. You can review this watered-down version of an ordinance in its entirety at the council's webpage <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/agdocs.aspx?doctype=summary&itemid=2683">here</a> - Draft Ordinance 6-23-14 Registration Only. The other two versions can be seen also at the same page <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/agdocs.aspx?doctype=summary&itemid=2683">here</a>. Even these two are not gems but at least they provide for inspections.</div>
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I provided comments on this measure during the public comment period at the beginning of the city council meeting. You can view a video of my comments <a href="http://www.cob.org/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=149&doctype=AGENDA">here</a> at video counter number 11:50. </div>
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The problems one encounters with the selected version of this ordinance is that there is not one shred of a requirement for inspections. All is complaint based, just as we have had for the past decades, the process that does not work. Below is what Tim Johnson at the Cascadia Weekly had to say about the council's actions on rental health and safety. You can read the entire Gristle column, <b>Call of the Mild</b>, <a href="http://www.cascadiaweekly.com/currents/opinion/call_of_the_mild">here</a> where Tim has hit the nail on the head.</div>
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<i><span style="color: blue;">"Council... appears to have lost their way on a
registration program for rental units in the city, appearing to jettison every
beneficial part of the original proposal in favor of—basically—a telephone
directory of landlords tacked on to the bare bones of a complaint-driven
system. As several commenters at their meeting noted, there is already a
directory of landlords, and there is already a procedure that allows tenants to
complain of their shabby tenements. Thus, after more than two decades of work
on this issue, Council appears on the threshold of glossing gossamer, cementing
in place a “feel good” system already deemed inadequate.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: blue;">Property managers and brokers, of course, joyously love it,
as it compels them to do nothing. It does nothing to alter the power imbalance
between the owners and sellers of private property and the 54 percent of city
residents who rent from them. As commenters noted, tenants who complain get
evicted and they get their references shredded.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: blue;">The centerpiece of a responsible rental licensing program
are audits and inspections that yield data that informs policy about the city’s
rental housing stock. Even modest inspections put landlords on notice that they
can no longer rely solely on the silence of their tenants on issues of public
health and safety. Over the past three years six fires have displaced nearly 20
renters in Bellingham. None of these properties had been reported to the
city under the current complaint-based system since most of the tenants were
unaware there was a problem and untrained to recognize one.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: blue;">Council’s malaise on these issues, we’ll argue, is that—with
notable exceptions—no member is pushing particularly hard in one direction, and
there is no member at all pushing back hard the other way to yield dimension
and stakes, even urgency, to their discussions. The public does arrive to scold
and beat them, but generally only when they’re already on the precipice, having
committed third and final to a mediocre plan. </span></i></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">The council has voted to have a hearing on this questionable measure sometime in September as it was recognized that the council docket was pretty full in August. I would suggest further that the council wait until at least October, when one large stakeholder group, the WWU student body, is back in town. More importantly, the tenants must come forward and call out the council on this risible and ineffective choice, essentially a confirmation of the status quo.</span></span> </div>
Zonemavenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853753467348220533noreply@blogger.com2