Form revised December 4, 2006
FISCAL NOTE FOR NON-CAPITAL PROJECTS
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Department: |
Contact Person/Phone: |
DOF Analyst/Phone: |
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Legislative |
Ketil Freeman, 48178 |
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Legislation Title: |
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AN ORDINANCE relating to conduct in public places; establishing nighttime disturbance as a civil infraction, creating a new section 15.48.050 of the Seattle Municipal Code and amending section 15.48.900 relating to penalties for nighttime disturbance.
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ˇ Summary of the Legislation:
This legislation creates a new civil infraction that proscribes certain behavior between midnight and five a.m. in public places in certain areas of town and establishes a civil penalty. The new nighttime disturbance civil infraction is established in Seattle Municipal Code Title 15. Title 15 governs use of and behavior in public rights-of-way.
Proscribed Behavior
The infraction would make it unlawful between midnight and early morning for people in a public area to:
§ Make unreasonable noise that is audible from 75 feet away, such as shouting, revving a car engine, of using a noisemaker; or
§ Threaten another person, such as using fighting words to instigate a fight; or
§ Fight another person, regardless of whether the persons engaged in the fight are mutual belligerents.
Geography and Public Area
The infraction applies only to behavior in public areas defined as 1) public rights-of-way, 2) parking lots, and 3) the curtilage of buildings open to the public, such as door wells and plazas. The infraction does not reach the behavior of individuals inside nightlife establishments. Additionally, the infraction only applies in areas of the City where nightlife establishments currently exist or where they could be established. This includes all of downtown and commercially zoned areas outside of the downtown core.
Civil Penalty
Violators of the new civil infraction are subject to citation and a fine with a maximum penalty of $125.
ˇ Background:
The legislation stems in part from the work of the Nightlife Advisory Board. The Nightlife Advisory Board was created by the Council through Resolution 31003 to advise the Council on policy issues related to "promotion, development and sustainability of the nightlife industry."[1] This includes issues related to regulation of the industry and its patrons.
The legislation borrows elements from crimes related to nuisance noise[2], harassment,[3] and fighting,[4] which, for a variety of reasons, have not been useful or effective for regulating disruptive behavior by patrons of nightlife establishments in public areas. Specifically, existing nuisance noise provisions require that police officers first warn someone and that the offending party continue to make noise prior to that person being subject to arrest. Existing harassment provisions do not apply to circumstances in which mutual belligerents exchange fighting words prior to a fight. And, existing fighting provisions do not apply to circumstances in which mutual belligerents engage in a fight that does not threaten injury to an uninvolved third party's person or property.
ˇ Please check one of the following:
____ This legislation does not have any financial implications. (Stop here and delete the remainder of this document prior to saving and printing.)
_X__ This legislation has financial implications. (Please complete all relevant sections that follow.)
By creating a new infraction, the legislation may increase General Subfund revenue from fines. However, it is unlikely that increased revenue will be significant. The legislation does not change any budget appropriations.