This week I met with our colleagues in the Mayor’s office to learn more about how the city is working to enforce the new safety regulations for after-hours venues operating between the hours of 2 and 6 a.m.
As the District 2 community is all-too-aware, these after-hours lounges have been magnets for gun violence, including the double-murder in March of this year at Capri Lounge; an unregulated venue that formerly operated in Rainier Beach.
Newly passed laws create the regulatory structure needed to set and enforce rules to help make these environments less conducive to gun violence. This year, the City passed two key pieces of legislation to address violence at after-hours venues: ...
Council Bill 121006, amended the city’s Chronic Nuisance Properties Ordinance to address after-hours venues and establishments that continually violate laws. *This legislation takes effect August 18.
Council Bill 120956 added a chapter to Seattle Municipal Code to regulate after-hours nightlife lounges. Work on this legislation was started by former Councilmember Tanya Woo, working in close cooperation with both the City Attorney’s Office, as well as families and survivors of nightclub killings. This spring, the bill was brought to the finish line by Councilmember Bob Kettle. ...
The enforcement of the new rules guiding after-hours establishments is the responsibility of the City’s Department of Finance and Administrative Services (FAS), which is working in partnership with the Mayor’s Office, the City Attorney’s Office, the Seattle Police Department, the Joint Enforcement Team (JET), the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspection (SDCI), and other staff to implement the new laws. ...
