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.
Land Use Code Omnibus Amendments
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.
Neighborhood Parking Legislation
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.
New Rules for Short-Term Rentals
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.
Clustered Conference Rooms: Live Load and Occupancy
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.
New Seattle Electrical Code
City Council approved the new Seattle Electrical Code on September 18, 2017. The new code became effective on October 21, 2017. All projects submitted to SDCI on or after October 21, must meet the new Electrical Code standards. If your electrical permit is associated with a building permit, you must follow the electrical code that was effective when you applied for the building permit.
Proposed Code Amendments for Stormwater Code Are Now Available
We are updating our Stormwater Code. The proposed amendments to the Stormwater Code include several changes, including: modifying on-site list requirements; making technical corrections; and clarifying submittal requirements for projects.
New Approved Legislation and Amendments
The City Council approved an amendment to the 2015 Seattle Building Code allowing Art Gallery spaces less than 3000 square feet in size to remain or be classified as an Mercantile occupancy from an Assembly-3 occupancy. They also approved legislation for Seattle’s Technical Codes and Electrical Code.
Do Not Use Director’s Rule 29-2015 for SEPA Exemption Information
Please don’t use the SEPA exemption levels information in Director’s Rule 29-2015 to plan your project. Recent code updates have modified the exemption levels in SMC 25.05 to align with growth estimates for infill development within Urban Centers.
Supporting Neighborhood Parking Options
The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) posted draft legislation to improve parking availability in neighborhoods by providing flexibility for building owners to make parking facilities with excess capacity available for public use. These policies will help more residents, consumers and visitors have better access to parking across the city.
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