Auburn Planning Director Kevin Snyder assured members of the Municipal Services Committee Monday that Auburn has “a variety of tools in our tool kit” to address poor conditions at apartment complexes within the city limits.

Still, City leaders want to know if more tools are needed.

Recent problems with the Auburn Pines Apartments north of City Hall inspired City leaders to take a fresh look at how it deals with the problem. Inspectors last spring found people living in such poor conditions at The Pines that the City ordered all tenants out until the problems were fixed. Snyder said recently that the Pine’s owners have done nothing to date to address the sub-par conditions there.

At the committee’s request, Snyder collected data from the Auburn Police Department that showed the 10 apartment complexes with the largest number of service calls within the last years.

Snyder collected the health and safety provisions within the Auburn City Code that bear on apartment complexes and those that address the problem of junk vehicles and overgrown vegetation at empty or abandoned complexes. He also provided to committee members copies of statutes dealing with the state’s Landlord Tenant Act, which outlines the responsibilities and rights of landlords and tenants.

City Attorney Dan Heid noted that a court decision in the case City of Pasco vs. Shaw upheld the authority of cities across Washington to require certification and inspection of apartment complexes. Auburn updated its ordinance when the state Court of Appeals issued a ruling favorable to Pasco. The Legislature later made a number of changes to state law to answer concerns of people opposed to giving cities the authority Pasco claimed, but lawmakers also added a grandfather clause that allowed cities like Auburn to keep their Pasco-style ordinances.

“Our ordinance is similar to Pasco’s, only ours is more favorable to landlords because we don’t automatically require regular recurrent inspections and certifications,” Heid said. “If we have reason to believe that there are infractions, then we can require the property owner to address those concerns. If they do not, then we have another opportunity for stepping up enforcement in relation to the building code.

“… Do we need to change our code?” Heid continued. “I would suggest no. We have a good ordinance right now, and it’s very, very consistent with state law.”

Members of the Municipal Services Committee agreed to take on some of the duties of the advisory board of city officials, landlords and tenants that meets quarterly or as needed to deal with problems posed by errant apartment complex owners.

“The advisory board should not be set up as a quasi-judicial body to inform on other members of that group,” Mayor Pete Lewis said Wednesday. “I don’t want the landlords setting the standards — I never did. Having the Municipal Services Committee agree to take on that responsibility gives me the ability to bring it to them and say ‘Here’s where we are having our biggest crime and code enforcement complaints. Here’s the top 10, here’s the statutes. Now, what do you as Council members want to do about it?'”