Seattle Public Utilities is pleased to announce that the SPU’s Design Standards & Guidelines (DSG) V5.0 is available on the SPU website. Over 20 owners of the guideline chapters and numerous contributors updated the Design Standards & Guidelines to reflect our current design practices. Users of the guidelines are encouraged to provide feedback, which we will consider for future inclusion or revisions.
Last year, the City of Seattle adopted new codes and regulations regarding tree protection, tree service providers, and tree public notices. These new regulations help the City balance tree protection and housing production. Trees add value to your property and the surrounding community. Canopy cover is one important measure of the health of the urban forest. Urban trees provide numerous ecological, economic, and social benefits, including wildlife habitat, neighborhood livability, and improved public health outcomes.
As part of his Downtown Activation Plan, Mayor Bruce Harrell has submitted new legislation to Seattle City Council aimed at filling vacant commercial spaces in existing buildings on key streets in Downtown, Belltown, Uptown, and South Lake Union. The proposed Land Use Code changes will provide greater flexibility in allowable uses of street-level commercial space and broaden the pool of eligible commercial tenants, further advancing efforts that create engaging, pedestrian-oriented street environments throughout the urban core.
Building Inspections will be limiting the number of scheduled inspections from March 25- March 29, 2024 for training purposes.
SDCI is developing two new maps to help you understand what commercial tree work is happening in your neighborhood. The maps will include tree-related information collected from issued permits. Tree Public Notice Map: This interactive map will display all SDCI tree public notices for reportable work or tree removal. Tree Tracking Data Map: This map will display tree tracking data gathered from issued permits since the new ordinance went into effect on July 30, 2023.
Beginning this year, all proposed inverter-based Distributed Energy Resources (DER) must use inverters certified under Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 1741 Supplement B (Standard for Safety Inverters, Converters, Controllers and Interconnection System Equipment for Use with Distributed Energy Resources, Supplement B and labeled as UL1741-SB) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1547-2018 (Standard for Interconnection Interoperability of Distributed Energy Resources with Associated Electric Power Systems Interfaces).
SDCI updated two Tips on MHA payments for developer contributions.
Hiring tree service providers knowledgeable in the City’s regulations ensures that your provider knows and understands the City’s regulations and policies for proper tree care and protection. Tree service providers are required to be registered with the City to do certain tree work on private property (registry administered by the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI)) and in the public rights-of-way (registry administered by the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT)). These two departments previously managed separate application and monitoring processes for their respective tree service provider registries. We are happy to announce that the City of Seattle launched a single registration process for SDCI and SDOT Tree Service Providers on February 22, 2024. The new registration process helps create a more streamlined and efficient experience for tree service providers and a more automated and efficient process for staff.
The City of Seattle is committed to protecting our urban canopy. Trees add value to your property and the surrounding community. Canopy cover is one important measure of the health of the urban forest. Urban trees provide numerous ecological, economic, and social benefits, including wildlife habitat, neighborhood livability, and improved public health outcomes. Hiring tree service providers knowledgeable in the City’s regulations ensures that your provider knows and understands the City’s regulations and policies for proper tree care. Tree service providers are required to be registered with the City to do certain tree work on private property (registry administered by SDCI) and in the public rights-of-way (registry administered by the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT)). These two departments currently manage separate application and monitoring processes for their respective tree service provider registries. In late February, the tree service provider registration application processes for SDCI and SDOT are being combined into a single application. This single application will help create a more streamlined and efficient experience for tree service providers and a more automated and efficient process for City staff.
The City of Seattle is holding a listening session for developers and owners of URM buildings for a proposed new Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program to support seismic retrofits of URM buildings. The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) and Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) are hosting this meeting on Tuesday, February 27 from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. in the Bertha Knight Landes Room in Seattle City Hall. You can register and view the meeting agenda for this in-person event on the Unreinforced Masonry Buildings website.
