Council suspended its rules and added the latest version of ordinance C36785, titled the Safe and Accessible Public Spaces ordinance, for final consideration on Oct. 27 after staff circulated a revised draft that day.

Staff told council the revision corrected the ordinance title because it restored a tree-code provision (SMC 12.02.1004) that had previously been stricken, removed an unnecessary reference to “right of way” in the obstruction definition, and moved transit-facility language from the definition into the substantive prohibition where staff judged it more appropriate. “We corrected the title because we added a section on the tree ordinance, restoring SMC 12 0 2 1 0 0 4… We corrected the language on obstruct so that we took out the reference to right away… We added some changes related to transit facilities,” staff said.

Council member Bridal asked whether the administration intends to enforce the ordinance; City Administrator Alex Scott replied, “Absolutely. And are we going to prioritize that enforcement? Absolutely.”

Council approved the rule suspension by voice vote to permit final consideration. The Oct. 27 review did not show the council taking a final adopted vote during the agenda review itself; council members moved to add the latest version to the docket for final consideration that night. Any final adoption, enforcement protocols and implementation timelines were to be handled during formal consideration and subsequent administrative implementation.