CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to Seattle's construction codes; limiting the areas for which substantial alterations are required to spaces or buildings greater than 7,000 square feet in gross area; amending existing substantial alteration requirements; and amending Section 311 of the Seattle Existing Building Code, adopted by Ordinance 127108.
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WHEREAS, small businesses in Seattle have faced significant economic disruption due to the COVID-19 public health emergency and its aftermath, including prolonged closures, rising costs, and difficulty reactivating vacant commercial storefronts; and
WHEREAS, since February 2020, Seattle's commercial districts have experienced high vacancy rates, especially in small retail and food service spaces, as regulatory, physical, and financial hurdles have made it difficult for new tenants to occupy formerly active storefronts; and
WHEREAS, Downtown retail has been particularly impacted by vacancies and existing permitting requirements prevent rapid activation of vacant storefronts; and
WHEREAS, Section 311.1.1 of the Seattle Existing Building Code requires significant cost and time-consuming building upgrades when a building is reoccupied after 24 months of vacancy, even in situations where there is no change in use, size, or safety risk, creating a substantial barrier to small business reactivation downtown and in the city's neighborhood business districts; and
WHEREAS, the Governance Accountability and Economic Development Committee held a Roundtable Discussion on Improving the Building Permitting Process on February 13, 2025, where substantial alterations were discussed as a risk factor for projects; and
WHEREAS, this proposed amendment to Section 311 of the Seattle Existing Building Code will clarify that businesses reoccupying certain small commercial spaces after pandemic-era vacancy will not automatically trigger substantial alteration requirem...
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