Complex Now Community

LYNNWOOD - Sheila Zuniga remembers when Whispering Pines, the sprawling apartment complex that's been her home for 10 years, was snickeringly called "Whispering Crimes."

And even earlier, when it was called Colony Coves, it had an even more unflattering alias: Felony Coves.

Until recently, those nicknames were well-earned.

In 1994, the Lynnwood Police responded to 400 calls at the 240-unit complex.

Longtime residents recalled that Friday night payday celebrations inevitably turned violent.

Police cars with lights flashing were a regular sight. Parents kept their kids inside.

"It was a den of crime," Zuniga said. "There were a lot of drug pushers, and I personally saw one guy beat another guy on the head with a baseball bat. You were literally afraid. I bought myself a gun. I didn't need that kind of fear in my life."

It didn't help that the complex, considered the place for young up-and-comers when it was built in 1968 - partly because of the pool and other amenities - frequently changed owners and managers, who made big promises but delivered little.

The situation reached its low point in April 1995, when 16-year-old Sangeeta Lal died after being gunned down outside her apartment by her former boyfriend, who then shot himself to death.

But last summer, the complex began a dramatic turnaround.

After years of neglect by out-of-town owners, then languishing in receivership, Whispering Pines, 18201 52nd Ave. W., was taken over by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Through the Snohomish County Housing Authority, a massive renovation began to provide housing for low- and moderate-income people. (For example, a person living alone must earn less than $22,000 to qualify for a unit.) The completed project will house 800 people.

It was financed by investors who received tax credit for investing.

Since September, $5,000 to $12,000 has been spent renovating each unit, and the entire project will cost $1.5 million.

Work is expected to be done in July.

Early in the renovation process, the housing authority sought the involvement of the Lynnwood Police Department. Last July, Trudy Dana, police spokeswoman, surveyed the complex and recommended changes to make it safer.

The suggestions, which included improved parking-lot lighting, new doors with peepholes, trimmed hedges and shrubs, and more speed bumps and islands to discourage speeding in the parking lot, have largely been put in place, Dana said.

The Police Department's influence also has been felt in a more direct way.

HUD asked the Police Department to patrol the complex, an arrangement it had with two other HUD-owned complexes in the city, Sgt. Paul Watkins said. So for 20 hours every week, HUD pays for police to patrol the area.

Officers patrol units

Five officers now take turns working from one of the units, but later this year, they will use a satellite police office, the department's first at an apartment complex.

The result has been a "drastic reduction" in crime at the complex, said Watkins, who oversees the Police Department's Whispering Pines program. Last month, police responded to only 16 calls at the complex, and six were minor, Watkins said.

Longtime residents cheer the changes.

"It's great," Zuniga said. "The punks that used to hang around are no longer around. The change is like day and night. The renovation is like the cherry on top of the sundae."

Terry Robinson, whose family moved in two years ago, recalled the day her husband hurried back from the complex's swimming pool with their children, saying there was a man there with a gun wrapped in a sheet.

"I don't expect that happening again," Robinson said.

Residents also credit the new management.

In November, the Snohomish County Housing Authority assigned staffer Chris Hollinger to work at Whispering Pines.

"My job is to create community at Whispering Pines," Hollinger said. "I talk to them about their needs and wants, and then show them how to take responsibility for making them happen."

The complex now has an active block-watch program, and every month, residents have a dinner to socialize and discuss problems.

One proposal that residents are enthusiastic about is the possible creation of a safe-house program, in which volunteers agree to place a sign in their window to alert children that the home is a place where they can safely seek help, Hollinger said.

The complex also is expanding its services to residents, said Charlene DePuy, Whispering Pines' new manager.

Day-care center is planned

This fall, for instance, it plans to open its own Head Start program, and a day-care center is to open by summer.

A community is being forged, residents say.

"Before, people wouldn't even say hello to you," Zuniga said. "But it's not like that anymore. People actually seem to be looking out for their neighbors.

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A safe apartment.

Tips to apartment-seekers on how to tell good accommodations from bad:

-- Survey the grounds, not just the areas the apartment manager shows you.

-- Do the residents seem neighborly?

-- Return in the evening. How does the complex look then? Is it well lit? Does it feel safe?

-- Are the units secure? Do the windows have screens? Do they have peepholes and deadbolts?

-- Mailboxes are usually located away from the apartments at a central location. If you come home late and have to get the mail, would you feel safe doing so?

-- Is there a block-watch group?