In December 2017, the City Council adopted new rules for the operation of short-term rentals in Seattle. The new rules address regulatory licensing, taxation, and land use requirements for short-term rentals, a type of lodging sometimes called vacation rentals. Most of the new requirements will go into effect in January 2019. However, certain new Land Use Code rules went into effect on January 7, 2018. Learn more about the new rules on our Short-Term Rentals webpage.
SDCI is responsible for normal maintenance of the Land Use Code and related regulations. The State Department of Commerce recommends such maintenance as good government practice in furthering Growth Management Act implementation.
We package a collection of amendments that are relatively small in scale, and have a limited scope of impact, into an “omnibus” bill. These amendments primarily correct typographical errors, fix section references, and clarify or update existing code language. Our proposed omnibus legislation addresses amendments collected from June 2015 to present.
SDCI will brief the City Council’s Planning Land Use and Zoning Committee on the omnibus on April 4. A public hearing, where the committee will take comments on the proposed bill, will be held:
Wednesday, April 18
9:30 a.m. (committee start time)
City Council Chambers
2nd floor, Seattle City Hall
600 Fourth Avenue
For more information on the time of the hearing, please check the committee agenda a few days prior to the meeting. For those who wish to testify, a sign-up sheet will be available fifteen minutes before the public hearing.
The current draft of the proposed legislation, Council Bill (CB) 119217, as transmitted to the City Council is available through the Seattle City Clerk’s website.
Questions regarding the proposal or requests for electronic copies may be directed:
Eric McConaghy
Council Central Staff
(206) 615-1071
eric.mcconaghy@seattle.gov
For more information about the proposed legislation, you can contact:
Bill Mills
(206) 684-8738
william.mills@seattle.gov
For the past couple of years, SDCI has been working on parking legislation. On April 2, the full City Council may vote on the legislation. The legislation will increase opportunities for shared parking and set or reinforce progressive parking policies in places where Seattle invests in frequent transit service. These strategies will help provide access for the greatest number of Seattleites to a range of transportation options that promote social equity, help reduce household transportation costs, and reduce reliance on automobiles.
Highlights of the proposal include:
For more information, the Department of Construction and Inspection’s Director’s Report and other key documents are available on our Neighborhood Parking webpage. You can also read Council Bill 119173.
Questions regarding the proposed legislation may be directed to:
Gordon Clowers
Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections
(206) 684-8375
gordon.clowers@seattle.gov
Lish Whitson
City Council Central Staff
(206) 615-1674
lish.whitson@seattle.gov
In December 2017, the City Council adopted new rules for the operation of short-term rentals in Seattle. The new rules address regulatory licensing, taxation, and land use requirements for short-term rentals, a type of lodging sometimes called vacation rentals. Most of the new requirements will go into effect in January 2019. However, certain new Land Use Code rules went into effect on January 7, 2018. Learn more about the new rules on our Short-Term Rentals webpage.
There is a recent design trend of office tenants seeking more collaborative work spaces. Where typical office layouts used to locate conference rooms throughout a tenant space, conference rooms are now being grouped together in a cluster to encourage collaboration, and eliminated in the rest of the office space. Because of the concentration of conference rooms, there is a higher chance that all rooms will be simultaneously loaded. This is even more likely when the tenant occupies most of the floor or multiple floors in an office building.
This situation increases the live load of the floor in the clustered conference rooms beyond that expected by the Seattle Building Code (SBC) and can create a hazard. SDCI has issued a new code interpretation titled SBC Section 1607.2: Clustered Conference Rooms: Live Load and Occupancy.
This code interpretation addresses the live load requirements for clustered conference rooms. It includes criteria for when a group of conference rooms is designated a cluster and the structural framing must be designed for an assembly live load.
This code interpretation also addresses the occupancy classification for a large cluster of conference rooms. Individually, the conference rooms may be still be classified as a Business occupancy. However, when a cluster of conference rooms and adjacent assembly areas has a high occupant load, both the clustered conference rooms and assembly areas will be classified as an Assembly occupancy.
Questions may be directed to:
Ardel Jala
(206) 684-0573
ardel.jala@seattle.gov