houseboat.jpg
The city of Seattle is proposing new regulations that could force some houseboats on Lake Union to move. (Image courtesy Seattleafloat.com)

Some Seattle houseboat owners worrying about eviction

BY Josh Kerns  on October 23, 2012 @ 2:58 pm (Updated: 4:30 pm - 10/23/12 )

Some people who live in houseboats along Lake Union are up in arms over proposed new regulations the city is floating that could force them to pull up anchor.

There are about 500 floating homes like the one made famous by the film "Sleepless in Seattle," which are fixed in place, hooked up to the sewer and regulated by Seattle's Department of Planning and Development.

About 150 others however, are skirting city oversight by calling themselves boats, DPD spokesman Bryan Stevens tells Ross and Burbank.

"Some have just put outboard motors on the back of their floating home type structure and said hey I'm a boat and therefore I'm not regulated," Stevens says.

Stevens says the 300 pages of new regulations are being proposed in response to the state Department of Ecology's order for all cities to update their shoreline guidelines and balance between recreation, business and residential uses.

"You need to balance the type of uses you want to see there the type of uses that need to be there in order to operate versus the uses that want to be there," he says.

Stevens says the new rules will prohibit any new floating homes, and the city will force those that don't comply to move.

"Living on the water is a very attractive thing, we need to manage that," he says. "We have approximately 150 of these potentially illegal houseboats in addition to the floating homes that we have in the city so it could be 150 today, it could be 500 more tomorrow [if we don't act]."

"So, what are we gonna do?" asks John Chaney, Vice President of the Lake Union Liveaboard Association, in an interview with KING 5. "Are we gonna float away somewhere else? Will our vessels be worthless? We have mortgages. This is where we live."

A city council committee will discuss the proposed new regulations at a meeting October 26.

Josh Kerns, MyNorthwest.com Reporter
Josh Kerns is co-host of KIRO Radio's Seattle Sounds (Saturday nights 7-8) and a digital content producer for MyNorthwest.com.
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Comments (8)


  • Add A Comment

  • Linda M Bagley wrote...
    Seattle Houseboats Article
    October 23, 2012 4:25 pm
    Hi Josh, The photo used is a Floating Home, not a houseboat or a barge. I would like to invite you to the lake to see our community of houseboat vessels. You will learn more in a days visit that you will ever learn by talking to guest speakers shows or interviewing them on the phone. Email me - Linda@specialagents.net and we will take you around the houseboat / vessel community. Thank you, Linda
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  • deltta wrote...
    "Living on the water is a very attractive thing, we need to manage that,"
    October 23, 2012 4:34 pm
    Says alot
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  • 2112 wrote...
    Says alot
    October 23, 2012 5:06 pm
    Exactly. Let's make it so expensive and burdensome so that only the super rich can do it. Not saying they should be allowed to pollute, but come on, 300 new pages? Sheesh.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • deltta wrote...
    Let's make it so expensive and burdensome so that
    October 23, 2012 5:21 pm
    no one would want to stay.....fixed it for ya
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hpitantso wrote...
    City proposed no new regulations
    October 23, 2012 6:42 pm
    For housecycles or housebikes and never will
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • monkeyal wrote...
    Are these houseboat, vessel folks
    October 23, 2012 7:08 pm
    merely avoiding taxes, moorage fees, environmental responsibilities, etc. or are they 'homeless encampments' and migrants from far away home ports?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Nickatnyt wrote...
    Did you attach an outboard to a floating home?
    October 23, 2012 7:29 pm
    Then you tried to pull a fast one in order to get around laws and/or regulations, so it's time to pay the piper. Methinks that now would also be a good time to inspect the whole lot of them for possible water pollution, etc etc.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    A dilemma with a couple of valid perspectives...
    October 24, 2012 7:11 am
    There's only a limited amount of waterfront. The way in which it gets used makes some huge differences in the local economy, as well as the nature of life around places like Lake Union, Portage Bay, and the Ship Canal.

    One perspective is that a "boat" is a vessel designed to be moved around on the water, to navigate from place to place. People who own traditional boats don't have many viable options for mooring or storing them between uses; they need an infrastructure that is water related.

    People buy house barges because the math is favorable, (sometimes even when compared with renting a deluxe apartment), and because the waterfront neighborhood is uniquely attractive. Many private marinas have long required that one must have a "boat" to tie up to their docks, so structures that are absolutely not designed to navigate anywhere (most need to be towed around by an actual boat)slap on a steering wheel, a couple of running lights, a 4-horse outboard motor, and claim to be a boat.

    People who need a place to store a large boat don't have the option of doing so in Lake City or Greenwood, or even just a block or so off the water in the same neighborhood. People looking for an apartment or condo do.

    Lot's of tough questions. Should the limited space be made available to the people who are willing to pay the most for it? According to sound, free market principles, maybe so. However, people will pay more for housing space than for moorage space. Every actual boat in Seattle generates a lot of jobs at boatyards, fuel docks, repair and supply services, etc. Those jobs are lost when we convert boat moorage to non-boat uses. House barge folks can get most of what they will want or need at Home Depot.

    Imagine looking out across Lake Union someday and seeing no boats on the water because every available slip has a house barge "boat" in it. There are a lot of people who wish the boats weren't there now, but I think more of us would miss them.

    I don't envy the City Council's dilemma. Some valid arguments on both sides, and somebody's ox is going to be gored regardless of the council's decision.

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