Pierce County has identified nearly 2,100 illegal garages, sheds and other improvements under a new program that uses aerial photographs to find structures built without a permit.
More than 200 property owners have sought amnesty for their illegal buildings under a county planning department program that began in October.
County officials say the program will improve public safety by requiring inspections for structures that weren’t examined when they were built.
“People get hurt with illegal structures,” planning department director Chuck Kleeberg said.
But some County Council members say using aerial photographs to catch permit scofflaws might be an invasion of privacy. And they fear the program won’t generate as much money as expected, forcing the county to find savings elsewhere.
“Even small amounts of money are important to the council these days,” Councilman Shawn Bunney, R-Lake Tapps said. “There is no cushion if they’re wrong.”
At issue is the planning department’s “building amnesty program.” Under that program, the county compares aerial photographs taken in 2005 and 2008 to find new buildings and identify those that were built without a permit.
The planning department then contacts property owners to offer them a deal: The department will waive fines for the illegal structures if the owners pay fees, obtain the building permits and get the inspections they should have gotten in the first place.
So far, the county has reviewed photographs of nearly 74,000 acres, mostly in the midcounty, Key Peninsula and Fox Island areas.
The county has identified 2,098 candidate structures. Most of those are detached garages, agricultural buildings, sheds or similar other structures. But 17 have been new single-family homes or manufactured homes.
The county has offered amnesty to 445 property owners; 202 have applied for the amnesty program.
Participants have up to a year to obtain building permits. So far, 42 property owners have applied for permits.
Kleeberg said the county is less interested in punishing property owners than ensuring the buildings are safe. He cited the 2001 death of a Pacific Lutheran University student, killed when a substandard deck collapsed at a home near campus.
Kleeberg said it’s not fair to people who build structures legally for others to get off without paying for a permit.
The county expects the amnesty program to generate $320,000 a year from building permits and other revenue.
That’s not enough to cover the $410,000 budgeted cost of the program. But Kleeberg thinks the program eventually will pay for itself.
So far the program has generated just $39,638. Kleeberg said revenue should pick up as more property owners apply for building permits.
Council members have criticized the program.
Bunney said he wants to make sure the program “is about keeping people safe and not just generating more revenue to keep people employed.” And he’s concerned about the lack of revenue to date.
And while Bunney thinks there are “clearly cases out there where additional enforcement is necessary,” he expressed concern about “the government using cameras and aerial photography to look over peoples’ fences.”
“I think we’re in a society where the government is more and more getting into peoples’ private affairs,” Bunney said.
Kleeberg said the department has long used aerial photography for some kinds of enforcement. He said using technology is an efficient way to enforce county laws.
Traditionally the department has enforced the building code on a complaint basis. Kleeberg said the great majority of complaints come from neighbors tattling on each other.
“Is it more Big Brother to rely on neighbor complaints or aerial photos?” Kleeberg said. “I’m not sure.”
Privacy concerns got a lot of attention as the issue lit up talk radio Thursday, after a version of this story appeared on The News Tribune’s Political Buzz blog. Several blog readers also expressed concern that the program is more about generating revenue than about public safety.
Deputy County Executive Kevin Phelps said the program is about saving lives, not making money. He said the county can’t ignore illegal structures.
“We didn’t have enough manpower on the streets to do inspections to ensure proper permits (were obtained),” Phelps said. “We decided to use technology. It’s a huge cost savings to taxpayers.”
The planning department will provide the County Council with an update on the amnesty program in May.
David Wickert: 253-274-7341
david.wickert@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/politics
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