A stunning home overlooking the Tacoma Narrows and owned by former NFL player Desmond Trufant has become a nuisance in its quiet West End neighborhood, surrounding residents say.
The reason: The home, ostensibly marketed as a vacation rental, is instead an events center with three or four often noisy functions per week, neighbors contend. Guests who park on a street leading into the neighborhood have exacerbated existing problems of congestion and criminal activity on the street, they say.
“We have anxiety sometimes when we’re on our way home,” said neighbor Alisa Wilson, who lives nearby. “What are we going to come home to? What are we going to have to deal with?”
She and her husband are considering selling their home.
The city, meanwhile, says there are no problems with the house, and Trufant told The News Tribune he’s in compliance with all city codes.
Airbnb or events center?
Marketing for the home, known as The Sunset Estate, leans toward promoting the space for events. Trufant and his family live elsewhere. On Feb. 7, its Instagram page advertised a 5-hour, $1,800 rental of the house for a Super Bowl party, open bar service included. The News Tribune could not determine if anyone took the offer.
Callers to the home’s business line are requested to leave an inquiry about “what event or type of booking you would like.”
5-star Google reviews rave about the home and the events that are booked there, referencing weddings and employee parties.
Earlier this year, the business held an open house for “vendors and potential clients.”
While some cities around the United States have dealt with so-called party houses — homes advertised on Airbnb but used for large unruly parties — the Sunset Estate markets toward high-end events: weddings, office parties and similar functions.
That, neighbors say, bolsters their argument that the property is a de facto events center.
The city says it does not regulate events held in homes or businesses, but events centers must hold a license. Those facilities also are subject to assembly and occupancy regulations, which are governed by building and fire codes.
Trufant holds a general business license for the home.
Fire inspections
All businesses, including commercial event spaces, require periodic inspections by the Tacoma Fire Department, according to spokesperson Chelsea Shepherd. TFD has never inspected The Sunset Estate. The reason: it’s a residence, she said.
“We can’t even show up and knock on the door,” she said. “We have to be invited in.”
A business can spend thousands of dollars on fire alarms, sprinklers, fire extinguishers, exit signs and vented hoods in food prep areas. Residences, even those used for overnight rentals, don’t have to provide those.
TFD gets its list of businesses from the city, an it’s the city’s Planning and Development Services department that determines a building or space’s maximum occupancy.
The house on North 10th Street
Once a dated, mostly pink house, the home at 7517 N. 10th St. was purchased in 2017 by a Georgia-based LLC Bucket Johnson LLC for $835,000 according to tax records. Trufant has been open that he and his wife own it.
Trufant regularly holds fundraisers at the house for his charity, Tacoma KidZ, which aids underprivileged youth.
Trufant and his wife rebuilt the house from the ground up. Now, it’s a sleek, open-air design in a white, black and gray color scheme that looks like it would be at home in the Hollywood Hills. It features a bar and 9-hole putting green.
“Boy, were we all excited,” said neighbor Rich Burns, recalling when the home was under construction. “Nice new house, nice new family.”
Party house?
Then, in 2022, the parties and weddings started, and they haven’t stopped. They are often accompanied by music, DJs, even bands. The sound drifts into the neighborhood until Tacoma’s noise ordinance kicks in at 10 p.m.
“We don’t need to be subjected to someone else’s choice of music on a Sunday afternoon,” Burns said.
The Sunset Estate’s 2,000-square-foot heated deck overlooks the neighborhood. Burns said he feels for neighbors who live below the home.
“If (a down-slope neighbor) is out in the backyard barbecuing with his wife and there’s an event, there’s 60 people looking at you right there,” Burns said. “Now, who’s gonna be OK with that?”
Judging from photos and videos, the home has seating for around 50 people. Renters can bring in additional seating and tables for events. A photo of a wedding setup on the home’s website displays seating for over 100 people.
In compliance with city codes
In response to a neighbor’s inquiry regarding The Sunset Estate, interim planning manager Shirley Schultz said the home is in compliance with city codes.
“In Tacoma, private residential properties are allowed to host personal events, whether for themselves or others,” she wrote to the neighbor in June. “The City does not require permits for such events on private residential property.”
The neighbor did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation.
In April, Mindee Weber, the city’s permit compliance supervisor, said the city contacted the Trufants about the issues raised by neighbors.
“They have been informed and have acknowledged that property can only be advertised and utilized for short-term rentals, with event mentions permitted only if the event is organized by the individual renting the property for an overnight stay,” she wrote. “Additionally, (the Trufants) are allowed to advertise events hosted by their nonprofit organization, provided they are present for these events, or if they are sponsoring events and will be onsite hosting them.”
Weyerhaeuser Mansion
The complaints about The Sunset Estate echo that of what’s known in Tacoma’s North End as Haddaway Hall, or the Weyerhaeuser Mansion. The palatial home was built in 1923 by timber baron John P. Weyerhaeuser.
In 2013, a Seattle catering company began hosting events at the mansion, and those functions angered some neighbors with loud music, parking problems, rowdy guests and open consumption of alcohol.
In 2016, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Bryan Chushcoff signed an order reversing the 2015 decision of a hearing examiner concerning a conditional-use permit for the property at 4501 N. Stevens St.
Citing Tacoma municipal code, Chushcoff’s decision sided with a stated goal to “protect and enhance established neighborhoods, and ensure that new development is in harmony with neighborhood scale and character.”
Weddings and other events, the judge continued, “occurring multiple times per week by up to 150 persons playing amplified music, drinking alcohol (or smoking marijuana) to the point of intoxication for some of the patrons, often during evening hours in a residential district is a dramatically incompatible use with the existing neighborhood.”
The mansion has 52 rooms spread over 15,600 square feet on 5.97-acres. It was sold in 2017 for $5.9 million.
Parking problems
Like other homes in the area, The Sunset Estate can accommodate just a handful of vehicles on its property.
The vast majority of guests park on North 10th Street, a long, sloping road that parallels state Route 16 just as it approaches the Narrows Bridge.
Until recently, guests would park on both sides of the road, making two-way travel difficult at times. A state Department of Transportation operations facility dedicated to the Narrows Bridge is at the end of the road. WSDOT crews need immediate access in both directions on the road.
“On occasion, there are issues with vehicles parked in areas where there are no-parking signs,” according to WSDOT spokesperson April Leigh.
After neighbors sent a barrage of complaints to the city and police about parking, a city employee installed no-parking signs on one side of the road in early June. Several were soon stolen but have since been replaced. Not all drivers have been obeying the signs, neighbor Kevin Johnson said, because police have not been enforcing the new regulations.
Problems on North 10th Street aren’t limited to parking from The Sunset Estate.
When Metro Parks Tacoma closed Five Mile Drive in 2022, problems moved from there to North 10th Street, Tacoma police officers told a meeting of the West End Neighborhood Council in June. Issues with street racing, drug use and other illegal activity soon became a problem, they said.
In July, the city installed two speed humps on the road, partially calming traffic problems, according to neighbors.
“It slowed it down, but they burn their tires at the bottom of the street and they burn them off again in between speed humps,” Johnson said.
Tacoma police perspective
Tacoma police spokesperson detective William Muse said the most common complaint from the area concerns parking on North 10th Street.
Muse said if police enforce the no-parking signs, it could push parking farther into the surrounding neighborhoods. In addition, parking enforcement ends at 6 p.m. and police have higher priorities, Muse said.
The News Tribune looked into 911 calls over the past 18 months associated with the property and found little beyond two parking violations. Neighbors say that’s because they’ve been calling 311 and Tacoma police’s non-emergency line to report noise and parking violations. Collectively, they say they’ve made hundreds of calls to those numbers, complaining about noise and parking issues.
Neighbors interviewed by The News Tribune contend they want parking enforcement and don’t mind if it pushes parking farther into the neighborhood.
Permits, zoning, taxes
The Sunset Estate is in an R1 zone. In Tacoma, an R1 zone is defined as “… intended for a typical single-family residential neighborhood. It is most appropriate in established areas with a relatively quiet and stable neighborhood environment. The R-1 District has low traffic volumes and larger lot sizes.”
Residents, or renters, can serve alcohol at private functions. No permits are needed.
That changes if the host is charging for the event or for the alcohol. Trufant has 12 permits for alcohol at the house — the maximum number per year.
Whether Trufant operates his home as an events center or for overnight stays, the city isn’t losing any tax revenue, city spokesperson Maria Lee said. Both types of businesses fall under the retailing tax classification. Retail business owners pay tax on their gross income multiplied by .00153 (.153%).
Tacoma’s tax-reporting threshold is $250,000 in annual gross income, Lee said. If a business grosses less than $250,000, no tax is due.
Trufant’s and city’s response
Tacoma Deputy Mayor John Hines issued a statement to The News Tribune regarding The Sunset Estate.
“I have relayed to neighbors in this community that the homeowner in this particular neighborhood is operating within existing regulations for short-term home rentals,” Hines said. “I also relay to all my constituents that we live in a growing and rapidly evolving city, and the City Council is constantly assessing our current code to ensure that our regulations align with our broader vision for all neighborhoods across the city.”
Hines said the city is discussing short-term rental regulations in its Government Performance and Finance Committee.
For the time being, the city says, The Sunset Estate is is full compliance with city codes.
“The City has investigated complaints about events held in rental houses from a code perspective, and associated parking from a traffic, fire safety and Americans with Disabilities Act perspectives,” Lee told The News Tribune. “The City is not currently aware of any rental homes that are not compliant with applicable codes.”
In a brief phone call with The News Tribune, Trufant was adamant that he’s doing nothing wrong, referring to the above statement, which he said he was aware of through city sources.
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