ISLAND COUNTY: County to move forward with action against Clinton nuisance property

Jessie Stensland reports from the Island County Commissioners board meeting of Tue., Feb. 18, 2025 for the Whidbey News-Times. Read the whole story.

Island County officials will try to use the court system to fix a longstanding problem with a nuisance house in Clinton.

Earlier this month, county commissioners agreed to authorize the Island County Prosecutor’s Office to start litigation against Tiffany Benson-Burton, who owns a home at 6875 Helena Street. Since 2021, the county’s planning department has issued a dozen enforcement actions, Public Health “red tagged” the home as uninhabitable, a fire damaged it and the septic tank became inoperable, Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor Paul Brachvogel told the commissioners during a workshop meeting.

Benson-Burton never responded to any of the enforcements efforts.

The litigation will seek to compel Benson-Burton to bring the property up to code. As an alternative, the county could do the clean-up and then go after Benson-Burton for the costs through a lien or other measure.

They Said It

“The only remedy we see is judicial enforcement of action,” Brachvogel said.

The commissioners emphasized that they are not taking the action lightly and that it’s not just a case of a messy yard. They said there were also allegations that people on the property were secretly running power cords to neighbors’ property, shooting off guns and possibly committing other crimes. They said the lack of a working septic system is especially worrisome.

“It’s just one violation after another from a behavior standpoint,” Commissioner Jill Johnson said.