Are Rooming Houses Lowering Your Property Values? Appeal Your Real Estate Valuation.

If those rooming houses on your street are ruining your quality of life, chances are they are also lowering your property values. Hulk vehicles, trash, poor maintenance, loud parties, public urination and public intoxication can be reasons you can use to challenge the assessed value of your property. I recently spoke to a homeowner on 34^th Street who had more than $20,000 shaved off her home valuation by the Whatcom County Board of Equalization based on the increased number of illegal and unmaintained rooming houses. She will see a reduction in her real estate taxes and the local governments will see a decrease in revenue. It is time to hit ‘em where it hurts, in the pocketbook. Perhaps then those responsible for non-enforcement of single family zoning will wake up and smell the coffee.

From the Whatcom County website: “The Board [of Equalization is wholly separate and apart from the Assessor's Office. They are comprised of three County residents appointed by the Whatcom County Council to three year terms. Board members are selected for their knowledge of real estate values and each member is required by law to attend an intensive five day course on the valuation of real property. Board members are salaried while they are in session and receive yearly continuing education from the Washington State Department of Revenue. The Board is directed by state law (Revised Code of Washington, RCW, and Washington Administrative Code, WAC). A list of Whatcom County's current Board members is available upon request.”

To appeal the assessed value of your home, go to the Whatcom County website (click here) It is a simple process as I was told by the homeowner above. The website provides a form (click here) . With your appeal, include photos of the rooming houses showing the trash, poor maintenance, etc. Include copies of police reports on noise violations or disorderly conduct. Copies of letters or other communication you may have had with the landlord may also be helpful.

If you had to sell your home tomorrow, would you receive top dollar or would prospective buyers ignore your home because of the adverse impact of rooming houses on your street?

Who Gains by This?

The following comment appeared yesterday evening on the website of the Bellingham Herald. This type of comment is not uncommon except for the vulgarity. I have written their management to ask for moderation of the commentaries on articles which appear in the Herald. Comments such as this (read the original here, if it has not yet been removed) do precious little to advance the discussion on this or any other issue. I have a pretty thick skin and, therefore, I am not much personally offended by these sophomoric natterings. I do find highly offensive the frequent spelling errors that seem characteristic of these comments.

“Hey "DICK"...you've only lived in Bellingham since 2002. If it's such an inconvience (sic) living here, go back where you came from. Nobody asked you to move here. If you want your privacy, move to the very northern part of Alaska. This isn't your town so f**k off and leave a**hole!!! Local Life ...09.28.07 - 8:06 pm”

*Replaces letters which were included in the original post on-line.

City Council - Resolute or in Disrepute?

We have come to learn the following which was posted on the City Council’s web page (click here):

CITY OF BELLINGHAM CITY COUNCIL FOLLOW UP FOR AGENDA

September 24, 2007

3. OLD/NEW BUSINESS

Council Member Bornemann reported that landlord accountability issues will be discussed at the October 8, 2007 meeting.

What are we to think of this development? Frankly, we are puzzled. Perhaps the council is putting the proverbial cart before the proverbial horse. Although it is gratifying to see that the council, albeit somewhat dimly, is awakening to the problems that have been for years all too obvious to the single family homeowners, we cannot imagine the reason for which the council is looking for accountability from the landlords when it has not, as yet, asked for accountability from the Mayor and the Director of Planning. Some time past, the council voted into law Bellingham Municipal Code (20.08.020), a portion of which defines that which constitutes a single family for the purposes of further defining zoning relating to single family neighborhoods. From the information we have been able to gather, the city executives have all but ignored this portion of the code thus allowing the creation of uncontrolled, unregulated and unlicensed rooming houses throughout the city. It seems to us that the council may wish to produce a resolution expressing their indignation with respect to the inactivity of the city executives in enforcing a code that they, the council, deemed acceptable [vere dignum et justum est] and passed into law. At such time, the council could then turn in high dudgeon, with a straight face and with resolution held high, to call the landlords accountable.

Sounds of Silence - Your Government Speaks

On Monday morning, 24 September, I invited the Mayor and the Director of Planning and Community Development to speak to this issue. I sent them an email alerting them to the blog posting which requested their comments on several complaints I had received from Bellingham residents. I have heard nothing from these city officials. Here are a few more emails that I received during the week. Again, I ask the Mayor and the Director of Planning to speak to the issue. Why the silence?

JW, now of Ferndale, wrote:

“I'm a 'drunken student' refugee now living in Ferndale. I used to live in Happy Valley. Now a complete college slum. Used to be a nice place…

He also said:

“The city told neighbors at [a] get together that they (the city) will not enforce the municipal code concerning how many people live in a house. They told us to get lawyers if we wanted to fight it! All of this crap went on for six years....it went from a quiet neighborhood to a total 'war zone'. I had lived in Quiet Bellingham since 1975 and the real change happened in the late 90's. A city "planner" told me that "I should move because it will get worse!" … Landlords (big problem) owning the properties told neighbors to 'get f----ed'. Literally. Nobody controls them. They are almost as bad as the students. All of this was four years ago in "Happy" valley. Happy Valley went from a peaceful very quiet area to one of the worst crime neighborhoods in a matter of a few years! All of this is exactly what the city and college want and they have always gotten what they want. The college wants to expand, expand, expand. And the college turns a blind eye to it all. Not their problem. … It’s quiet and serene out here in Ferndale!"

And this from JM in the Whatcom Falls Neighborhood:

"Hi …, Sad to see that we have to rely on a "new comer" to highlight one of our city problems. I liked your article [Bellingham Herald, 23 September] very much and fully agree that something needs to be done. Like yourself we have a neighborhood problem, one house rented to college students or non-relatives, the other a housing authority house. Both of these have presented repeated neighborhood problems but only those living close seem to care that much. I am guilty of ignoring things for many years as I worked so many hours and my wife is mostly housebound with health problems, [so] that neither of us really noticed. After retiring I was exposed more often to the problems so naturally more concerned… I did speak with Dan McShane when he was door knocking in our neighborhood [and] he made notes of my concerns. ...he lives in the York neighborhood, not a rich new development so he too should be concerned. I would like very much to help in an effort to get things changed and protect our neighborhoods and the quality of life we should be able to expect. Regards, JM"

And last but certainly not least from CB:

"I live right next door to one of these houses, located at XXX 20th. I have complained in writing to the City regarding what goes on at this address and have had absolutely no resolution. I'd like to offer my support to your efforts and would welcome an opportunity to discuss this with you. Later . . . CB"

Bellingham Herald Features Zoning Issue Again

The Bellingham Herald has discovered the Zonemaven’s blog. In today’s Herald you can find an article by Sam Taylor entitled “Blogger Wants Zoning Rules Followed.” Click here to read the article and comments.

Dean Kahn also posed a question regarding the zoning issue. Click here to read the question and the more than 70 comments. My comment follows:

"It is unfortunate that the question raised by Mr. Kahn was phrased in a way that implied that the students were the problem. The reality, I believe, is that the students’ behavior in group rentals is a symptom of a greater problem which is that of growth and the manner in which the city controls growth. Most neighborhoods are now updating their neighborhood plans, providing the city with their wishes for areas of parks, trails, high/low/medium density housing, etc. Unfortunately, the terms that the city uses to define low density, i.e., single family zoned, are totally ignored which allows the creation of rooming houses (high density) in structures which are meant to be inhabited by a single family. These de facto rooming houses change the character of neighborhoods. There is a considerable difference between the footprint of an average family with several children and the footprint of a rooming house with 6-7 adults. WWU, by virtue of its size, contributes to the bulk of the problem by asking the city to absorb 8,000 or more students each year. What would be the reaction of the city if a corporation were to come to Bellingham and say that it would employ 13,500 workers (mostly temporary) but that it could provide housing for only 3,500? That is essentially what happens here each year. The students are not stupid. I know. I invite them to my home for dinners and BBQs. I work at WWU sporting events. I am a member of the Campus Community Coalition and I attend the Let’s Talk forums. They are smart, funny and engaging. Students do the economically viable thing which is to band together to lower their costs. Nevertheless, the city has an interest in controlling growth by way of its ordinances. Ordinances similar to Bellingham’s regarding single families have been upheld in other cities. See my blog for examples (www.zonemaven.blogspot.com). Furthermore, the city has an interest in controlling businesses within its jurisdiction. Rooming houses are a business but the de facto rooming houses here are totally uncontrolled and uninspected. This endangers the health and welfare of all our citizens, especially our temporary residents, the students."

When Will Our City Officials Speak?

The following is an open question to our Mayor, Tim Douglas and to our Director of Planning and Community Development, Tim Stewart.

What are we to respond to those who have written below? Mr. Douglas, I know that you will soon be leaving office. Nonetheless, you cannot be disinterested in these issues or you would not have agreed to return to the mayor’s office. Mr. Stewart, you are charged with enforcing zoning here in Bellingham. What is your answer to these individuals?

"Greetings Dick …

Great article in the Bellingham Herald!

I live on XXXX Lane [Whatcom Falls Neighborhood] and have a next door house, with 5 unrelated, college students every year. I explain to the new [tenants] every September that they live in on a "family lane". "Welcome to the neighborhood, let me know if you need anything.....,if you get out of control my friends in the police department WILL show up." I'm tired of training the puppies every year, seeing the house slowly getting neglected, and possible property value of our home deplete[d].

Do you know of any small claims, court cases against these rental house owners? I was considering it.

So far, I stay in contact with [the] BPD …about noise complaints.

Got any advice for me? Keep me in the loop. I want to get involved with this Bellingham problem.

Sincerely,

AV"

And this:

"Dear Dick,

You are so right on!!! our neighborhood has had a bit of the multi resident renters as of late. One has cars parked in front and late nite parties..Another has seven day a week garage sale. We have an ADU in construction as we speak. Talk to the City planning and they say it is density issues. I asked if there were ADUs in Edgemoore, and the official said "No"

My question is Why not?

Your article in the Herald said a lot...I don't know if it reached those that count...Edgemoore people didn't pay attention. The people that don't pay attention to the renters and their neighborhoods, It is a growing problem and our civic leaders need to address this.

Thank you for bringing it in front of the citizens. It is doubtful that anypone will pay attention to this growing problem until it gives everyone a black eye.

In closing, I would like to say that I contacted the City of Bellingham regarding a planned ADU in our neighborhood and was told by the official that it didn' t matter if the neighborhood did not want it to happen....It was in the best interest of density! I asked about Edgemoore! You know the answer.

Ron"

Who Gets to Speak on the Issue?

The following anonymous comment was left on the Bellingham Herald site yesterday in response to my column, a copy of which I posted below.

"Yeah, you probably just moved here with the hoardes (sic) of outsiders escalating home prices, bought a house, and now expect the rest of the population to try to find an affordable home? News bulletin: college students do not have the purchasing power of retired people who have prior equity. If they are lucky, mom and dad bought a small house or a condo near the schools. Someday, these students will be homeowners. For now, they need to live somewhere.
native Whatcomite"

My response:

My Dear Native Whatcomite,

The purpose of my column was to initiate a constructive dialogue about a severe problem facing all of us in Bellingham regardless of origins. Your ad hominem remarks are not helpful. [An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin: "argument to the person", "argument against the man") consists of replying to an argument or factual claim by attacking or appealing to an irrelevant characteristic about the person making the argument or claim, rather than by addressing the substance of the argument or producing evidence against the claim.] If you read my blog at www.zonemaven.blogspot.com, you will find that I am fully supportive of the students finding affordable housing. In fact, it is they, who often have to live in cramped, unhealthy, uncontrolled, de facto rooming houses. They deserve much better. As for native Whatcomites, we all came from someplace else: recent retirees like me, your family, the waves of nomads into the Americas 30-40,000 years ago. Perhaps the salmon are the true natives.

More from Candidate Geyer (Ward 5 Candidate)

Bill Geyer sent me the following email yesterday. He proposes a specific type of legal remedy.

Dick,

Great! Thanks for spearheading this issue. Laws are laws, and some folks want to just brush them off to feel good. When laws are not enforced, private individuals have to resort to public exposure such as your current effort. Otherwise, a private citizen can resort to a writ of mandamus whereby the city is compelled to act. I am not an attorney, but many local land use attorneys have commented on the effectiveness of this tool.

As the former Bellingham Planning Director (1985-91), I can attest to the directive for administering and enforcing the Bellingham Municipal Code. Unequal enforcement of the municipal code erodes the ability of the City to enforce other types of land use regulations. If charged with a violation, the defendant could strengthen his defense by pointing out the City is discriminatory in its practice by not enforcing the single-family provision. Given the City's history of not prosecuting the single-family violations, it is possible that a Judge would be suspect of the City's prosecution of other land use violations, thereby putting all taxpayers at risk.

Too bad my opponent feels public hearings are the answer instead of simply enforcing existing law. It is troubling that some current Council members do not have the courage to stand by the Bellingham Municipal Code that they are sworn to uphold.

Best to you in your efforts.

Bill Geyer

I would like to remind my readers that Bill Geyer’s opponent is Terry Bornemann, the incumbent council member. You can find Terry’s response to this issue in my blog of August 28^th below.

And yes, please - no hearings. Those who wish to change the code, after yet another series of mind-numbing hearings, present a peculiar problem. On what basis do you change it? There are no court decisions regarding this code. It has never been tested. We need a judicial decision on the code and not opinions from the city, the council, the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker.

As I said on the Mike Kent show on KGMI yesterday. There are three priority action items with respect to this issue:

Priority 1: Enforce the current code
Priority 2: Enforce the current code
Priority 3: Enforce the current code

Zonemaven Guest Editorial in the Bellingham Herald

Here is a reprint of my guest editorial which appreared on Sep, 23, 2007 in the Bellingham Herald.

City should enforce rules on single-family dwellings

Let’s talk about growth, but neither the kind we usually read about with respect to Bellingham nor the manner in which the city will accommodate the 1,500 or so new arrivals here each year. We have had another, far more insidious, growth problem. It affects just about every neighborhood, unless you are one of the fortunate ones living on a hillside in a million-dollar home within 5 acres of trees. The growth about which I am writing stems from decades of neglect wherein the Bellingham Municipal Code has not been enforced, thus allowing for uncontrolled growth within areas zoned single family. The city has permitted property owners to convert their homes into de facto rooming houses.

Admittedly and somewhat perversely, this neglect allows an accommodation of thousands of young men and women, most of whom are university students, by providing low-cost housing at the expense of the quality of life and property values of your neighborhood. This growth is a cancer which, if allowed to continue, will persist in its metastatic march across the city and onto your block, if it is not already there.

Western Washington University just received $47million to increase the capacity of its facilities, which will attract more students; however, university management has not forwarded plans except to build one more dormitory in the next few years — maybe. Approximately two-thirds of the 13,000 students (i.e. 8,500) must still find affordable housing every year as the rental market tightens — as it is bound to do.

Incredibly, there is talk of using accessory dwelling units to increase the availability of low-cost housing. Not only will this poor concept increase the density in your neighborhood as ADUs are built, but it will also allow the homeowner, who no longer has the need to live in a large home, to move to the ADU and rent the main house. Since nobody controls the number of people living in a single-family home, there is effectively no limit to the number of renters.

I have first-hand experience of such a home on my street whose value, by the way, is around $400,000. The owner moved into the ADU and has had a succession of renters — families and groups. We have experienced at that home over the last five years an illegal in-home business, illegal parking, hulk and abandoned vehicles, unattached trailers, loud parties, and at least one arrest for assault and property damage.

As your neighborhood associations work diligently to update your neighborhood plans, they will be paying special attention to growth issues, especially to preserve areas already zoned for low-density, single-family dwellings. The problem is that city does not enforce the code designed to preserve the character of those areas. That neglect renders the planning moot as single-family, low-density homes are converted to medium- and high-density rooming houses which are not licensed or controlled.

Neither the university nor the housing market will respond by creating more affordable housing units until the current law is upheld and illegal rooming houses are a thing of the past.

We, the citizens of Bellingham, do not have to endure the status quo. We can demand enforcement action from our city officials and insist that candidates for public office recognize the problem and have well thought out plan to deal with it effectively.

York Neighborhood Resident Tells It Like It Is

I received this note below after appearing on the Mike Kent radio show this morning with Garey Vodopich and Rick Chartrand. You can sense the frustration of this York neighborhood resident. We had one caller on the radio this morning who would speak only off-the-air for fear of retaliation in his neighborhood. A sad commentary on this state of affairs.

"Hi,

I met a gentleman yesterday. He was working at the Condo building site on Lincoln St so [I] asked if he was the builder [but] he was just doing the plumbing. I said to him the University should be buying [this] housing for the students. You see they made more parking for them just a short distance from the Condo site. He agreed went on to say how bad It's gotten where he lives so I found your blog site...containing your great letter. He's really interested in this project [as] he lives in [a] single family dwelling … and is fed up too. Did you see the Best of Bellingham paper this week? The York neighborhood rated the Best Neighborhood. I grew up here and there's a lot of not so very good things about this neighborhood and we need to start a blog [on that]. Bellingham rated #1 place to live is not agreed with by several of us, there's a lot of information that needs to be out there. If we have a lot of elderly people moving and moving into the rowdy neighborhoods [and] we don't have enough police protection [for what] goes on here in the York Neighborhood. You call them and it can sometimes take more than an hour to get here on party night."

Name withheld