CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to the Office of the Hearing Examiner; temporarily suspending deadlines imposed by the Seattle Municipal Code for the duties of the Hearing Examiner; temporarily superseding several sections of the Seattle Municipal Code that impose deadlines on the actions of the Hearing Examiner; and ratifying and confirming certain prior acts.
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WHEREAS, the World Health Organization has announced novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is officially a global pandemic; and
WHEREAS, on January 31, 2020, the United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declared a public health emergency for COVID-19, beginning on January 27, 2020; and
WHEREAS, on March 3, 2020, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan proclaimed a civil emergency exists in the City of Seattle; and
WHEREAS, on February 29, 2020 the Washington Governor issued Proclamation 20-05, proclaiming a state of emergency for all counties throughout the state of Washington in response to new cases of COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020 the President of the United States declared a national state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and
WHEREAS, on March 16, 2020 the Office of Hearing Examiner adopted an emergency rule entitled “Office of Hearing Examiner Operating Rules During COVID-19,” which requires all hearings be conducted remotely; and
WHEREAS, on March 23, 2020 the Washington Governor issued Proclamation 20-25, prohibiting all people in Washington State from leaving their homes and all non-essential businesses in Washington State from conducting business (“Stay Home - Stay Healthy Proclamation”); and
WHEREAS, on March 24, 2020 the Washington Governor issued Proclamation 20-28, suspending in-person meetings under the Open Public Meetings Act; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 outbreak presents an extreme risk of person-to-person transmission of the virus and public health experts worldwide advise the best way to prevent a calamitous explosion of cases is to prevent infected people from coming in close contact with healthy ones; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Municipal Code authorizes the Office of the Hearing Examiner to decide appeals of more than 75 different types of City decisions; and
WHEREAS, the Office of Hearing Examiner normally holds in-person hearings but is in the process of developing systems to conduct hearings remotely; and
WHEREAS, the Office of the Hearing Examiner may not be able to conduct remote hearings in a reliable, fair, and accessible manner due to the limitations of remote conferencing technology, or due to absences or illness of hearing participants or Office of Hearing Examiner staff; and
WHEREAS, a temporary superseding of Hearing Examiner deadlines will allow the Office of the Hearing Examiner to comply with the Stay Home - Stay Healthy order; and
WHEREAS, the City Council intends that the Office of the Hearing Examiner continue those duties and responsibilities of the Office that can be carried out in a manner consistent with the Stay Home - Stay Healthy order; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. No deadline imposed by the Seattle Municipal Code, including any code adopted or amended by Title 22, for a duty of the Office of the Hearing Examiner shall be in effect from the effective date of this ordinance until termination of the civil emergency proclaimed by the Mayor on March 3, 2020.
Section 2. By way of example and not limitation, the following provisions that involve the Office of the Hearing Examiner are subject to Section 1 to the extent they require the Office of Hearing Examiner to provide a notice of a hearing, schedule a hearing, conduct a hearing, publish a decision, file a decision, or take some other action by a deadline or within a certain time period:
|
Provision (Seattle Municipal Code unless otherwise stated) |
Description |
|
3.70.100 |
Ethics Code violations |
|
4.04.250 |
Civil Service appeals |
|
4.20.225/4.20.860/4.20.870 |
Compensation and working conditions generally |
|
4.20.865 |
Whistleblower retaliation complaints |
|
5.40.028/5.40.085 |
Admission tax exemptions |
|
5.55.140/5.55.150 |
Business and Occupation and other tax assessments |
|
5.55.230 6.02.080/6.02.285/6.02.290 6.10.120/6.10.130 6.202.240/6.202.270/6.202.320 6.208.020 6.214.320 6.295.160/6.295.180 6.500 |
License denials, suspensions, and revocations |
|
5.65.160/5.65.170/5.65.230 |
Income tax on high-income residents |
|
5.72.110 |
Multifamily housing property tax exemption |
|
5.72.110 5.73.100 |
Property tax exemption elimination |
|
5.73.110 |
2004 multifamily housing property tax exemption |
|
6.42.080 |
Panorams and peepshows |
|
6.202.290 |
Bond claims |
|
6.270 |
Adult entertainment |
|
6.295.180 |
All-ages dances and venues |
|
6.310.635/6.310.735 |
For-hire vehicles and drivers |
|
6.315.430 |
Horse-drawn carriage licenses |
|
6.410.210 |
Refrigeration systems |
|
6.420.210 |
Steam engineers and boiler firemen |
|
6.430.210 |
Gas piping |
|
6.500.147/6.500.150/6.500.170 |
Marijuana business license citations |
|
6.600.120 |
Short-term rentals |
|
7.12.090 |
Unit pricing |
|
7.20.080/7.20.090/7.20.100 |
Floating home moorages and review of fees |
|
7.24.130 |
Rental agreements |
|
7.25.050 |
Third party utility billing complaints |
|
7.26.070 |
Refund anticipation loan regulation |
|
9.25.036 |
Determinations of viciousness/order of humane disposal |
|
9.25.120 |
Animal licenses |
|
10.01.220 |
Health code permit actions |
|
10.07.050 |
Graffiti nuisances |
|
10.52.031/10.52.032/10.52.033/10.52.034/10.52.035/10.52.036 |
Weed and vegetation citations |
|
11.16.317 |
Restricted parking zone appeals |
|
14.04.150/14.04.170/14.04.180/14.04.185 |
Employment discrimination complaints |
|
14.06.040/14.06.110/14.06.120/14.06.130/14.06.140 |
Unfair public accommodations practices |
|
14.07.040 |
All-gender single-occupant restrooms requirements |
|
14.08.170/14.08.180/14.08.200 |
Fair housing |
|
14.09.085/14.09.090 |
Use of criminal records in housing |
|
14.10.120/14.10.130/14.10.140/14.10.150 |
Fair contracting practices |
|
14.16.050/14.16.070/14.16.085/14.16.090/14.16.100/14.16.105 |
Paid sick/safe leave appeals |
|
14.17.045/14.17.060/14.17.065/14.17.075/14.17.080 |
Fair chance employment appeals |
|
14.19.050/14.19.070/14.19.085/14.19.090/14.19.100/14.19.105 |
Minimum wage appeals |
|
14.20.030/14.20.050/14.20.065/14.20.070/14.20.080/14.20.085 |
Wage theft appeals |
|
14.21.050 |
Use of conversion therapy on minors |
|
14.22.065/14.22.085/14.22.100/14.22.105/14.22.115/14.22.120 |
Secure scheduling |
|
14.23.095/14.23.100/14.23.105/14.23.115/14.23.120 |
Domestic workers |
|
14.26.150/14.26.170/14.26.180/14.26.210/14.26.220 |
Protecting hotel employees from violent or harassing conduct |
|
14.27.150/14.27.170/14.27.180/14.27.210/14.27.220 |
Protecting hotel employees from injury |
|
14.28.150/14.28.170/14.28.180/14.28.210/14.28.220 |
Improving access to medical care for hotel employees |
|
14.29.150/14.29.170/14.29.180/14.29.210/14.29.220 |
Hotel employees job retention |
|
14.30.150 |
Commuter benefit appeals |
|
15.90 |
Street use appeals |
|
15.91.006 |
Seattle Department of Transportation citation appeals |
|
20.04.090 |
Local Improvement District assessment rolls |
|
20.84.225/20.84.640 |
Relocation assistance when City action causes displacement |
|
21.08.350/21.08.360 |
Corrosion prevention |
|
21.43.090 |
Infectious waste management |
|
21.60.120 |
Cable franchise termination |
|
22.206.217 |
Habitable building standards variances |
|
22.208.050 |
Housing and building maintenance code violations |
|
22.210.100/22.210.110/22.210.120/22.210.150/22.210.160 |
Tenant relocation assistance eligibility determinations |
|
22.214.045 |
Denial or revocation of rental housing registration |
|
22.220.140 |
Downtown housing maintenance: Director’s order appeals |
|
22.800.040 |
Stormwater, grading, and drainage exceptions: Director’s order appeals |
|
22.920.155 |
Energy benchmarking appeals |
|
23.34 |
Rezone applications |
|
23.47A.004 |
Land use regulations - Commercial |
|
23.49.030 |
Adult cabarets |
|
23.50.012 |
Land use regulations - Industrial |
|
23.58B.030 |
Land use regulations - Affordable housing impact mitigation program for commercial development |
|
23.58C.035 |
Land use regulations - Mandatory housing affordability for residential development |
|
23.60A.064/23.60A.202/23.60A.203/23.60A.204/23.60A.214 |
Land use regulations - Seattle Shoreline Master Program |
|
23.61.016 |
Land use regulations - Station Area Overlay District |
|
23.66.030 |
Landmarks and Special Districts Certificates of Approval - Application, review, and appeals |
|
23.69.030/23.69.032 |
Major Institution Master Plans |
|
23.75.085/23.75.120 |
Land use regulations - Master Planned Communities |
|
23.76.005/23.76.006/23.76.022 |
Master Use Permit (Type II) decisions |
|
23.76.024/23.76.054 |
Subdivisions (Type III) decisions |
|
23.76.034 |
Stop work orders |
|
23.76.036/23.76.052/23.76.054 |
Council conditional uses |
|
23.76.058 |
Major amendment to Property Use and Development Agreement |
|
23.78.014 |
School reuse/School Use Advisory Committee within Master Use Permit decision |
|
23.79.012 |
School development standard departures within Master Use Permit decision |
|
23.88.020 |
Land Use Code interpretations |
|
23.91.006/23.91.010/23.91.012 |
Land Use Code citations |
|
25.02.080 |
Commute Trip Reduction appeals |
|
25.05.680 |
Environmental determinations |
|
25.08.590/25.08.610/25.08.655 |
Noise Code variances |
|
25.08.900/25.08.910/25.08.920/25.08.930/25.08.940/25.08.950 |
Noise Code citations |
|
25.09.160/25.09.260/25.09.280/25.09.300 |
Environmentally Critical Areas reasonable variance, conditional use, and reasonable use exception |
|
25.10.540 |
Radiofrequency radiation ordinance violations |
|
25.12.530/25.12.535/25.12.540/25.12.560/25.12.570/25.12.610 |
Landmarks preservation - Controls and incentives |
|
25.12.740/25.12.750/25.12.760 |
Landmarks preservation - Alterations or significant changes |
|
25.12.840/25.12.845/25.12.890 |
Landmarks preservation - Service of notices, interpretations, and conformance with general development |
|
25.16.110/25.16.115 |
Ballard Avenue Landmark District |
|
25.20.110/25.20.115 |
Columbia City Landmark District |
|
25.21.110/25.21.130/25.21.135 |
Fort Lawton Landmark District |
|
25.22.110/25.22.130/25.22.135 |
Harvard-Belmont Landmark District |
|
25.24.080/25.24.085 |
Pike Place Market Historical District |
|
25.28.280/25.28.300/25.28.310 |
Pioneer Square Historical District |
|
25.30.090/25.30.110/25.30.120 |
Sand Point Naval Air Station Landmark District |
|
Seattle Fire Code 109.4.5 |
Fire Code violation mitigation hearings |
Section 3. This ordinance does not supersede any deadline established by: the Seattle Municipal Code, including any code adopted or amended by Title 22, for filing an appeal; or the Hearing Examiner for any case schedule.
Section 4. Any act consistent with the authority of this ordinance taken after March 22, 2020 and prior to its effective date is ratified and confirmed.
Section 5. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force 30 days after its approval by the Mayor, but if not approved and returned by the Mayor within ten days after presentation, it shall take effect as provided by Seattle Municipal Code Section 1.04.020.
Passed by the City Council the ________ day of _________________________, 2020, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this _____ day of _________________________, 2020.
____________________________________
President ____________ of the City Council
Approved by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2020.
____________________________________
Jenny A. Durkan, Mayor
Filed by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2020.
____________________________________
Monica Martinez Simmons, City Clerk
(Seal)