Reduced Property Values in Dungeness?

I’ve never seen this building in Dungeness, but it seems to have the neighbors in an uproar. Some of them are saying the garish colors of this building — a large garage with an apartment on the top floor — are bringing down their property values. They’ve even asked the Clallam County Assessor for relief from their property taxes, claiming that the large purple-lavender garage has lowered the value of their properties.

That might be hard to prove, with the economy being the way it is.

Homeowners’ associations are notorious for regulating everything a homeowner can do — what color the house has to be, what kind of plants are acceptable, whether pets are allowed. But from the PDN article, it doesn’t sound like this neighborhood is governed by a homeowners’ association or any other regulations.

I’m personally in favor of regulations against “monster homes,” “McMansions” — whatever you want to call them — that dwarf already-existing homes and block people’s views. But these regulations would have to be clearly written ahead of time. You can’t change the rules in the ninth inning.

I don’t think there’s any legal recourse for the neighbors of “Barney the Purple House” or the “Purple People Eater” — two of the building’s local nicknames.