Greater Awareness Increases Zoning Violations

Tired of watching your neighbor’s junk play hide and seek with the snow? Or perhaps it’s the heap in your own yard that shocks you every time the snow melts.

Complaints about zoning violations in the Spokane Valley - like storing junk or cars in your yard - have been on the rise in the past two years. But county planner and compliance officer Deanna Walter attributes the increasing number of complaints to neighbors with an eye for detail.

“I don’t think that violations have really increased. There is just a greater awareness,” Walter says.

Of the 466 code violation complaints filed with her office last year, Walter estimates that 75 percent were for properties the Spokane Valley.

The bulk of the concerns are considered storage violations, she says. Storing almost anything in the yard of a home in a residential area without screening it from view is against the law.

Yes, that includes recyclables, garbage, leftover siding, ice storm memorabilia, more than two broken down or unlicensed cars and many other things.

“What’s the old saying, `One man’s treasure is another man’s junk’, ” Walter says, shrugging.

Neighborhood associations and community policing programs have made her job easier by making residents more aware of what is not allowed in certain areas. Also, neighborhood covenants tend to be even more restrictive than county laws.

Walter says most people who have let things stack up in the yard simply did not know that they were breaking the zoning laws or it just got out of hand. As soon as she explains the regulations, offenders typically agree to take care of it.

If residents ignore letters from Walter, a notice from county prosecutors usually inspires them to act. Misdemeanor charges are filed in few cases, she says, and in the past two years only one zoning violation case has gone to trial.

Although storage is by far the biggest complaint, Walter also handles concerns about animals, illegal businesses, oversize signs, landscaping requirements and problems with obscured views at intersections.

Abutting zoning designations in the Valley and infill development in areas that were not traditionally residential also may attribute to the number of Valley complaints, she says.

In the Edgecliff neighborhood, complaining about zoning violations is more than tattling on your neighbor.

Jackie Ash, president of Edgecliff SCOPE, says the group has used zoning laws to raise the bar for cleanliness in their neighborhood.

“My belief is always that if you begin to create and instill a visual pride in your neighborhood that people will start stepping up to the plate,” Ash says.

The pressure is subtle but when the neighborhood starts cleaning, residents naturally start taking better care of their property, Ash says.

Edgecliff has used a combination of county agencies to help clean the most troublesome homes - those that are not only breaking zoning laws, but also creating health and safety problems and hosting suspected criminal activity.

For less acute problems, volunteers have pitched in to help neighbors who are unable to do the heavy work of clearing their own yard - such as disabled or senior residents.

Ash says in the past few years they’ve cleaned 10 properties in their small neighborhood, including the Woodlawn Cemetery. Edgecliff is less than one square mile.

The community pride is a small part of the SCOPE efforts that have helped cut the property crime rate in the neighborhood by more than 60 percent, Ash says.

Walter encourages anyone with questions about zoning laws or complaints to contact her for copies of the codes or an investigation request form.