Olympia adopts vacant property registration to deal more quickly with abandoned homes
There are nearly 100 properties in the city of Olympia that need to be cleaned up, not only for aesthetic purposes but also for the health and well-being of those living around them.
J.W. Mahone, the city’s lead code enforcement officer, told the City Council this week that it’s often been hard to track down the owner of a problematic property to get them to care for it. And the city has had little to no official system for handling property that isn’t theirs, until now.
The Land Use and Environment Committee unanimously recommended the City Council pass an ordinance establishing a vacant properties registration program. It’s ultimately meant to hold property owners accountable, but it also gives the city and police department more control in the matter.
The ordinance was passed unanimously by the council, with council member Jim Cooper absent.
Leonard Bauer, director of Community Planning & Development, said the program has been in the works for a few years, after having seen similar programs at work in Auburn and Bremerton. The city didn’t see it as a pressing issue at the time, but the number of vacant properties have steadily grown over the last 10 years. Then the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the issue, but dealing with it was put on hold.
During the Aug. 23 City Council meeting, Mahone said the idea is to identify problem properties and gather information on who owns them or has a stake in them. Then they can be held accountable for the state of their property.
Mahone said the city has a lot of “attractive nuisance” properties, and that many are owned by people who live outside the city, state or even country. He said there are some that have been occupied by squatters, and without a property owner present, the city can’t execute a trespass order.
He said the city also has had to spend an exorbitant amount of money to abate properties that have been abandoned by their owners. But he’s hoping that having a formal system will take some of that burden off the city.
‘Blight’ properties in Olympia
Mahone listed off a few properties that have recently been cleaned up, after lengthy processes to contact owners.
Just a week before the city council meeting, 2912 Pacific Ave. SE was cleared of junk, debris and cars. Mahone said a local person owned it and had plans to have it cleared before the pandemic. The problem quickly grew before it was handled, and the city is still working with the owner through a lengthy legal process.
A home at 1518 Ethel St. NW fell into disrepair after the owner died. It went into a trust and nobody in the family wanted it, so it stayed empty until squatters moved in. Garbage filled the home, windows were broken, and police were called out more than once.
The property went to auction recently, and the city worked with a contractor to rehabilitate the home. Then it was put back on the market and sold in July.
Neighborhood groups also recently rallied against the city’s lack of action on a burned-out home at 519 Puget St. NE. The home was destroyed by a fire in August 2019, and its shell stayed standing for three years. But the house was demolished this week, after another lengthy legal situation.
In an interview with The Olympian, Bauer said the city’s first move after the house fire was to fence it off so it posed less of a danger to the public. It stayed fenced over the years, as the owner worked through an insurance dispute. It led to a legal battle that lasted more than a year and a half. After that came issues gaining access to the property without damaging anyone else’s.
“Our responsibility is to put the responsibility on the property owner, and that can be difficult,” Bauer said.
What the ordinance allows
The ordinance states that owners of vacant or abandoned properties have to register their property on a yearly basis. This ensures that someone can be contacted and held responsible for issues on the property, such as broken windows, tall grass, trash and more. This includes having a local representative who can be directly contacted to handle issues.
The owners will have to pay a yearly fee associated with registration, but Bauer said it will only be enough to offset administrative costs. The amount will have to be approved by the city council.
Mahone said the city will be able to share owners’ information with fire, police and other departments. It’s an effort to get a better understanding of chronic nuisance properties and respond to them quicker.
When a place is registered, it will be added it to the police department’s trespass program, which allows officers to come onto the property and remove trespassers and squatters.
Mahone said the idea is that more of these properties could be brought back onto the market at some point in the future. They could be affordable housing, remodeled homes, or even urban farmland.
The ordinance will go into effect 30 days after its Aug. 23 passage.
For a property to trigger needing to be registered, it needs to be vacant for 90 to 180 days and/or lack utilities for 90 to 180 days. It also qualifies under any foreclosure status, or if it’s bank or real estate owned. Lastly, it needs to be registered if there are signs it hasn’t been occupied, such as no window covers, tall grass, junk and more.
If a property owner can’t be contacted and the city is left to deal with the cleanup, Mahone said the city will file a lawsuit against the owner and go through with cleaning the site. They’ll file civil infractions and end up filing a lien on the property to gain partial ownership.
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