City explores options to crack down on crack houses

If a house becomes a place where drug-related nuisances frequently arise, can a town do anything about it?

That question was raised at this month’s Grand Coulee City Council meeting, where Councilmember Mike Horne suggested at the May 15 meeting that the city look into adopting into its code something along the same lines as the city of Medical Lake has, where if a house is a crime hub and police are called there regularly, and multiple charges are filed, the property and home can be seized for a year.

Horne reasoned that adopting such a code is a way to create consequences for people who are a nuisance, and make owners think twice about whom they rent their property to.

“Why do they get to just come back?” Horne asked later, referring to drug dealers who get charged and then are back in business soon thereafter. “There has to be a consequence for their actions. Somebody has to step up and make that happen.”

Councilmember Tom Poplawski stated that drug houses have further consequences on neighborhoods, saying that homeowners’ property values go down, renters decide not to live in a neighborhood because of drug problems in the neighborhood, and more.

Horne said that for several years in his own Grand Coulee neighborhood, several residents have experienced things being stolen from them and that there are unpleasant interactions with the offending neighbors.

The Revised Code of Washington (RCW) chapter 7.43 details the laws related to drug nuisances and the protocol for seizing property. The city would have to follow these laws in their own code and in the execution of any seizures.

“Any final order of abatement issued under this chapter shall … provide for the immediate closure of the building or unit within a building against its use for any purpose, and for keeping it closed for a period of one year,” the state law reads.

“Our goal would be to have some teeth on the council,” Poplawski said.

The Superior Court of Grant County would have to approve the seizure of any houses recommended by the the city.

In theory, a problem house would be evacuated and boarded up for a year to effectively remove any ongoing nuisances.