Disturbing The Peace An Apartment Buildng That Violates Residential Zoning Laws Has Residents Worried Over The Peace And Quiet Of Their Area

When Steve and Shelli DeKorte moved into their house on Sixth Avenue in Opportunity a year ago, the couple thought they’d found a quiet residential neighborhood in which to raise their three small children.

Unbeknown to them, several of their new neighbors were beginning a second year of dogging county zoning officials to shut down a six-unit apartment building that stands in the middle of the neighborhood.

Several neighbors organized two years ago and filed zoning complaints against Greg Scott Phillips, 54, owner of the building at 701 S. Felts.

But residents said their complaints got them nowhere. Tenants, who range from an elderly woman to young male roomates, continued to fill the apartments while the zoning-complaint process ground to a halt.

Meanwhile, Phillips, who lives in one of the apartments, managed to dodge Friday. Both warrants stem from alleged violations associated with the apartment.

“We’re not getting any farther any faster than we were two years ago,” complained one neighbor, who asked not to be identified because she fears retribution.

County officials, who allege the apartment building was renovated in violation of building and zoning codes, sympathize with the area residents. However, they said once charges were filed in District Court and the arrest warrants were issued it was up to sheriff’s deputies to arrest Phillips.

Pointing to a long backlog of outstanding warrants, sheriff’s department officials said the warrants were not considered a priority because they were issued for misdemeanor charges.

Deputies routinely rely on traffic stops and other calls to find people named on misdemeanor arrest warrants, said sheriff’s Lt. David Wiyrick.

“You arrest when the opportunity shows up,” Wiyrick said.

But the sheriff’s department’s practice of not aggressively pursuing misdemeanor warrants leaves a hole in the zoning-complaint system, county officials said. Finding a method of efficiently enforcing county code violations is something that needs to be addressed, they said.

“If it’s not, a lot of people are going to ignore building, zoning and health codes,” said County Commissioner Steve Hasson.

That’s exactly what Phillips was allowed to do, his neighbors said.

“He thumbs his nose at authority,” said a neighbor who asked not to be identified.

Attempts to reach Phillips were unsuccessful. However, a friend who lives in the apartment building called the charges “a sickening situation.”

Jim Murr, 58, said he knows Phillips and the zoning situation, and claimed the structure was originally built for multi-family housing. Any zoning changes made since should not affect the apartment building, he said.

“I feel like this is out of control and shouldn’t be,” Murr said.

However, county officials, District Court records and neighbors indicate otherwise.

The land is zoned for single family use, said Allan deLaubenfels, county zoning code inspector.

“It never has been anything else,” deLaubenfels said.

Charges filed in District Court on Aug. 31, 1994, accuse Phillips of changing the structure from a house and garage to an apartment building without obtaining a change of use permit.

When Phillips failed to appear in court to answer the charge, a warrant was issued for his arrest on Oct. 11, 1994, court records show.

A second, separate charge was filed against Phillips this summer. On June 17, Phillips was charged in District Court with using the building for a multiple-family dwelling, according to court records.

Another arrest warrant was issued July 20 when Phillips failed to appear in court to answer that charge, court records show.

Phillips posted $280 bond for each warrant and was released from jail hours after he was arrested.

“We didn’t have any idea there was an apartment building over there when we bought our house,” Steve DeKorte said. “We didn’t even think we had to look for an apartment building because of the zoning.”

The DeKortes have since joined neighbors who have hounded county zoning officials about shutting down the apartment and returning the building to single-family use since September 1994.

Phillips bought the building in 1985, county records show.

A neighbor who has lived on the block her whole life said Phillips built the apartments onto the original house.

“You can’t even tell where the main house used to be,” she said. “He just started adding apartments one right after another right after he moved in.”

The woman refused to give her name saying, “We’re all just a little bit scared.”

Several neighbors expressed concern because of a history of trouble at the apartment. Sheriff’s deputies were called to the apartment in June to investigate an assault incident. In another incident, deputies questioned a tenant about a hit and run accident that occurred on the block.

Two years ago, a tenant was arrested as part of Operation Doughboy, a county-wide drug bust that saw apprehensions of 22 people suspected of being part of a cocaine distribution ring.

Those incidents, and several other minor complaints, provided law enforcement officers ample opportunity to arrest Phillips sooner, neighbors said.

While not familiar with the all of the calls neighbors mentioned, Wiyrick said deputies would have arrested Phillips had they found him.

“It’s not that we’re not going to arrest him if we come in contact with him,” Wiyrick said.

Deputies ended up seeking out Phillips to arrest him, but called that an exception.

Currently, there are 25,000 to 30,000 total outstanding warrants in Spokane County. Of those, the felony warrants take priority.

Several years ago, a four-person warrant unit was assigned to track down and arrest people named on warrants. However, the unit has since been eliminated and its resources devoted to other areas, said Lt. Ken Marshall.

“It just got to the point where service of a misdemeanor warrant wasn’t a high enough priority,” Marshall said. “The whole system routinely fails people on misdemeanor charges. We have to do something about the backlog of misdemeanor warrants.”

Exact figures on outstanding misdemeanor warrants were not available, but sheriff’s officials estimated the number was in the thousands.

Only about one or two percent of the zoning violations deLaubenfels has handled have resulted in a warrant being issued, but the zoning inspector said they are the most critical.

“Those one or two (percent) can make or break us,” deLaubenfels said.

Hasson said he plans to take the problem seriously.

“The dismissal of building and zoning codes certainly adds to the erosion of the quality of life quite rapidly,” Hasson said.

Giving deLaubenfels limited arrest power was among the possible solutions Hasson recently discussed with Sheriff John Goldman.

Goldman said he is willing to work with the code enforcement departments to find a solution.

“It’s all part of a broader definition of public safety than we traditionally look at,” Goldman said.

And while the zoning inspector is not anxious to become deputized, even in a limited capacity, deLaubenfels recognized the need to improve the system.

“If I lose my credibility, that’s all I’ve got,” he said.

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