{"id":2228898,"date":"2024-04-24T08:23:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T12:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/proposed-seattle-vacant-building-demolition-bill-could-cost-city-up-to-500000\/"},"modified":"2024-04-24T08:30:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T12:30:28","slug":"proposed-seattle-vacant-building-demolition-bill-could-cost-city-up-to-500000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/proposed-seattle-vacant-building-demolition-bill-could-cost-city-up-to-500000\/","title":{"rendered":"Seattle&#8217;s proposed vacant building demolition bill may incur costs of up to $500,000 for the city"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fproposed-seattle-vacant-building-demolition-bill-could-cost-city-up-to-500000%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2228898&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell proposed an emergency bill\u200d to\u2063 empower the Seattle Fire Department to demolish unsafe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/phoenix-homeless-encampment-clears-out-after-neighbors-sue-city\/\" title=\"Phoenix homeless camp cleared after neighbors sue city.\">vacant buildings<\/a>, estimating a cost of up to $500,000. The legislation is\u2062 a response to\u200c increasing vacant building fires, with 130 incidents\u2062 in\u2063 2023, including three fatalities. Harrell&#8217;s focus on public safety highlights the urgency to\u200d address this pressing issue. Seattle Mayor \u2063Bruce \u200dHarrell&#8217;s emergency\u200d bill aims to authorize the\u200b Seattle Fire\u200b Department to demolish hazardous vacant buildings, with projected costs nearing $500,000. The proposal is a\u2062 direct response to a surge in \u2063vacant building \u2062fires, recording 130 incidents in 2023, resulting in\u2064 three casualties. \u200dHarrell&#8217;s strong emphasis on public safety underscores \u2062the critical need to\u200d tackle this escalating concern.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 An emergency bill to allow the Seattle Fire Department to conduct demolition of unsafe vacant buildings in Seattle would cost the city up to $500,000 this year before potential reimbursements.<\/p>\n<p>The emergency legislation was proposed by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell on Thursday. The Seattle Public Safety Committee was briefed on the proposed bill on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Harrell\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/washington\/article_e24a7ce8-fe88-11ee-8a1f-9b4fcf93b512.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>emergency legislation<\/strong><\/a> comes as a result of the number of fires in vacant buildings surging in recent years. According to Harrell\u2019s office, there were 77 vacant building fires in 2021, 91 in 2022, and 130 in 2023. Three of the 130 fires were deadly.<\/p>\n<p>Through April 15, there have been 30 fires in vacant buildings in 2024. <\/p>\n<p>According to a fiscal note, the city would have to develop a blanket contract with several vendors if the bill is passed and the city <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/protesters-rip-down-government-fencing-around-alberta-church-police-show-up-in-riot-gear\/\" title=\"Protesters Rip Down Government Fencing Around Alberta Church; Police Show Up In Riot Gear\">fire code<\/a> is amended. The costs associated could range from $350,000 to $500,000 this year.<\/p>\n<p>According to Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins, the legislation would push owners of the vacant properties to comply with the city\u2019s fire code, and reimburse the city for the associated expenditures. Scoggins noted that some property owners fail to comply with the city.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is our hope that this legislation will help property owners come into compliance, but we are realists also because we have been managing this challenge for quite a while,\u201d Scoggins said at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fed-found-economy-is-recovering-much-faster-than-officials-expected\/\" title=\"Fed Found Economy Is Recovering Much Faster Than Officials Expected\">committee meeting<\/a>. \u201cWe do have some properties that we just don\u2019t hear from.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If property owners do not pay for the costs associated with demolition, the city will place a title lien on the property to cover abatement work costs, which can vary significantly depending on the size of the building, degree of damage, the presence of asbestos and other conditions.<\/p>\n<p>According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/seattle.legistar.com\/View.ashx?M=F&#038;ID=12868566&#038;GUID=6443769E-B08E-45E5-9A25-3DC95EE09866\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>fiscal note<\/strong><\/a>, revenues may not be received in the same fiscal year as expenditures occur, and could require multi-year support for the bill until reimbursement is received. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is not currently a guarantee of financial recovery,\u201d the fiscal note states.<\/p>\n<p>Vacant buildings that do not meet city standards or are in the development process currently get placed in a <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seattle.gov\/sdci\/codes\/codes-we-enforce-(a-z)\/vacant-building-standards\">vacant building monitoring program<\/a><\/strong>. If the city cleans up or closes a property on behalf of the property owner, they are billed for the costs. Fees for monitoring vacant buildings range from $271.85 to $542.60 per month, depending on condition.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An emergency bill proposed by Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell would allocate up to $500,000 for the Seattle Fire Department to demolish unsafe vacant buildings. The bill aims to address public safety concerns promptly, pending reimbursements. The Seattle Public Safety Committee received a briefing on the proposed legislation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2228899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/seattle-1024x598.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2228898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/seattle-1024x598.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2228898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2228899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2228898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2228898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2228898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}