The Seattle City Council recently adopted the 2025 budget, including legislation that implements SDCI fee changes in 2025. On January 1, 2025, SDCI implemented an inflationary increase of 6.5% to most fees. These fee increases changed SDCI’s base hourly rate to $274 per hour, and changed the Land Use hourly… [ Keep reading ]
City Council recently adopted legislation to enact a temporary exemption from Design Review. Until November 2, 2027, as part of the Downtown Activation Plan, projects that include any research and development laboratory uses or that are developing at least half of the project with residential or lodging uses are exempt from… [ Keep reading ]
In preparation for the next Stormwater Code & Manual we are holding a virtual listening session for the development, building and design community. As one of the groups that uses these rules, we want to hear from you how we can improve the Stormwater Code & Manual so that there… [ Keep reading ]
Seattle Public Utilities Solid Waste and SDCI seek comments from the development community on a proposed ordinance to update SMC Land Use Code 23.54.040 – Solid Waste Storage & Access. SMC 23.54.040 has not had a substantial update in 16 years. Many sections fail to meet the needs of an… [ Keep reading ]
The Seattle construction codes are being updated to the 2021 code editions and include the building, residential, existing building, energy, mechanical, plumbing, fuel gas, and fire codes. The Seattle electrical code is being updated to the 2023 edition and the boiler and pressure vessel code being updated to the 2024… [ Keep reading ]
In February of 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) required Seattle to update our floodplain regulations to include FEMA’s new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) and the Flood Insurance Study (FIS). FEMA’s adoption of the new map and study also included an audit of Seattle’s floodplain regulations. Through the… [ Keep reading ]
SDCI and the Department of Neighborhoods are proposing updates to the Land Use Code for new public school construction projects. The amendments are intended to change development standards to help support current educational needs such as flexible classroom design, outdoor play areas, parking, and school bus loading. Changes are also… [ Keep reading ]
For the fourth year in a row, the White House declared May to be Building Safety Month. Building Safety Month highlights the importance of building codes to protect our homes, businesses, and roads against earthquakes, floods, and extreme weather. Seattle’s Building Safety Month proclamation commits to retrofitting Unreinforced Masonry (URM)… [ Keep reading ]
The Seattle construction codes are being updated to the 2021 code editions and include the building, residential, existing building, energy, mechanical, plumbing, fuel gas, and fire codes. The Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code is also being updated to the 2023 edition. The target implementation date for the 2021 Seattle Construction Codes… [ Keep reading ]
Save the Date: Stormwater Code and Manual Update Listening Session
In preparation for the next Stormwater Code & Manual we are holding a virtual listening session for the development, building and design community. As one of the groups that uses these rules, we want to hear from you how we can improve the Stormwater Code & Manual so that there… [ Keep reading ]