I pulled this question from another thread. “Reddy” asked:
To Susie Snedaker – [At a recent City Council meeting] you asked (for the second time that I know of) about multiple tenants in residential housing and if there was proper zoning for it. The mayor promised you that she would have the attorney look at it and have him/her get back to you. You asked if it would happen within a few days and she replied yes. My question: Has anyone gotten back to you with an answer? Just curious; wondering if the promise was lived up to. Thanks very much.
Illegal boarding houses, as well as unregulated rentals, seem to be a big issue that the City doesn’t want to look into. I’ll let Susie answer for herself, but wanted to provide a separate thread to address this important issue.
Reddy, Yes, Judy House called me the following Monday and told me that Mike Gridley had emailed the Code Enforcement Officer, Scot Dinger. Officer Dinger did leave a voice mail message shortly thereafter. The zoning issue I had addressed two weeks earlier concerned the number of related and or unrelated persons living together as a single housekeeping unit. It appeared to me that seven or eight persons resided in the single family home in question which is directly across the street from my home. Officer Dinger told me that he could only take the word of the property owner and the property management company as to the number of persons residing as he could not enter the premises to ascertain the correct number of residents without a warrant. In my opinion, this indicates that the ordinance is extremely difficult to enforce.
The topic of boarding houses operating in violation of the zoning ordinance requiring a Special Use Permit is one with which I am all too familiar. One was in operation in my neighborhood. The boarding house complaint was lodged in February of 2004 (I think) and the court ordered the tenant to vacate two years later. The city worked with the tenant for months in hopes of achieving compliance. Please note that this residence was housing parolees – two of whom were registered sex offenders. You might remember the issue was brought to the attention of the city by the neighbors three weeks before the Groene tragedy.
At that time, I knew of a number of group homes/halfway houses in operation in the city. In fact, an attorney with the legal department asked me for a list of those in operation. I gave them to her. To date, three operated by the same individual have ceased operation, the remainder remain in operation without having to apply for a Special Use Permit as required by the zoning ordinances. I was told of four new houses operating in the city, one in my neighborhood. No Special Use Permits have been applied for and none granted.
On February 2, 2008, I asked the Mayor and Council to identify the transitional criminal houses existing in the city as mentioned in an article in the Coeur d’Alene Press. This is, after all, another zoning issue. I made the same request at a Blockwatch Meeting at City Hall a few weeks earlier. My request was answered with the sound of silence. That silence continues to this date.
Comment by Susie Snedaker — May 21, 2008 @ 9:41 pm
Susie, thanks for your answer. I know I’ve seen you speak on this twice at council meetings. One time Mr. K tried to make a joke about having 8 (?) people living in his house (he has 6 children I think). I guess he was trying to deflect the issue.
It is a big problem and will only get worse I think.
Comment by reddy — May 22, 2008 @ 9:41 am