Bellingham, WA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Bellingham's property blight regime is consolidated under BMC Chapter 10.28 (Nuisances). BMC 10.28.020 declares a nuisance the 'exterior storage, or the permitting or allowing of such storage, of any partially dismantled, wrecked, junked, discharged, or otherwise nonoperating motor vehicle, unless the same is stored in a location so as not to be visible from any public place or readily visible from any surrounding private property, or incidental to a lawful business.' The chapter also covers dead, diseased, infested, or dying trees that may endanger street trees or the right-of-way, and obstructions to public ways (signs, billboards, fencing, landscaping). Enforcement is structured under BMC 10.28.030: before any person is charged with a violation under BMC 10.28.020(A)-(L), an attempt is made to give written notice (personally or by certified mail) of the existence of the nuisance, with seven days to remove or abate from the date of notice. BMC 10.28.070 (Voluntary compliance) permits the City to work with property owners to resolve violations cooperatively. Bellingham Code Compliance — administered through the police department's Neighborhood Policing division for nuisance/junk vehicles, and through Planning & Community Development for building/rental property-maintenance code violations — accepts complaints from the public. Persistent non-compliance can result in abatement (City contractor) with costs assessed against the property, civil penalties, and criminal misdemeanor charges under BMC enforcement provisions.