CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to citations and penalties in the Street and Sidewalk Use code; assessing citation penalties based on land use zoning and permit type; adding citation fee amounts to the Street Use Permit Fee Schedule; granting authority to annually adjust citation penalty fees; and amending Sections 15.91.016 and 15.91.030 and repealing Section 15.91.025 of the Seattle Municipal Code.
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WHEREAS, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) Street Use Division is charged with regulating the use of the public right-of-way under Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) Title 15, Street and Sidewalk Use code; and
WHEREAS, the primary purposes of regulating the right-of-way are to ensure mobility is maximized for the traveling public, protect the public's health and safety, ensure public infrastructure is installed or restored properly by private utilities and developments, and activate public spaces; and
WHEREAS, Street Use manages the right-of-way by reviewing and issuing permits, inspecting permitted work, and providing code enforcement for non-permitted or non-compliant uses of the right-of-way; and
WHEREAS, SMC Title 15 provides several options for code enforcement actions, including warnings, citations, notices of violation (NOV), stop work orders, emergency orders, and abatement; and
WHEREAS, SMC Chapter 15.91 authorizes SDOT to issue citations for violating specific portions of Title 15 and permit conditions, and citations fee amounts have not been holistically updated since they were first introduced in 2002; and
WHEREAS, Street Use inspectors follow SDOT's Swift and Certain enforcement process for enforcing violations in the public right-of-way to quickly address safety, access, or environmental problems and change the violator's behavior over time; and
WHEREAS, SDOT is proposing a new citation penalty structure be added to the Street Use Permit Fee Schedule that will be b...
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