Living out ‘Sleepless in Seattle’-type dreams just got a little more difficult

People living on Seattle’s waterfront can sleep a little easier at night.

The city’s Shoreline Master Program lets all current houseboats meeting the city’s requirements stay where they float.

The updated shoreline program, which was approved June 1, has been in development about eight years. The Lake Union Liveaboard Association has fought for at least five years to keep houseboats from being booted from the city.

“From the very beginning, it was definitely a threat that the city would throw us out of Seattle waters and we would have to find safe harbor somewhere else,” Association President Mauri Shuler said. “That was what was so desperate on our part.”

But there was some compromise. All current houseboats, house barges, floating homes &#8212 restricted a few years ago &#8212 or vessels with dwelling units are allowed in Seattle waters and safe from future legislation. However, no more of the aforementioned floating on-water residences and dwelling units can be added.

“It saddens me because I think Seattle is much more creative than that,” Shuler said. “But not in this instance. I’m afraid they got pretty narrow, but we’ll live with it.

“We’re happy we at least have our current fleet.”

Related: Families evicted for Kirkland development fear they have nowhere to go

The shoreline program takes effect June 15. There will be a verification process for all floating on-water residences to make sure they are legal. In 2012, the city estimated there were 150 illegal floating residences. The owners tried to claim their floating homes were actually vessels and not subject to regulations, The Seattle Times reported.

The idea behind the restrictions of on-water residences helps ensure there is space for water-dependent uses in the future, according to Larry Altose, spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Ecology. That means more room for marine industry and businesses.

“Something that needs access to the water,” Altose explained. There’s enough places to live on the land, he added.

“It’s possible to live on the land, but not [possible] to have a barge or a swimming beach,” he quipped.

The shoreline program helps ensure the on-water residences are legal and standards are applied. The program also establishes best practices to protect water quality and supports a broader initiative to protect and restore the Puget Sound, according to the city.

The program is not intended to remove on-water residences, Altose said. It allows any current and legal on-water resident to maintain their home and, if needed, replace it with a new one.

“They’re going to have maintenance standards because you don’t want these things sinking in Lake Union,” Altose said.

Seattle’s program will manage nearly 100 miles of marine, lake, and estuarine shorelines throughout the city.

“We are confident that the approved program will protect both the economic and environmental health of the city’s shoreline areas,” said Gordon White, who manages Ecology’s shorelines program.

“Seattle’s shorelines support such a variety of important built and natural functions that it took eight years to complete this update, so we’re very pleased to reach this milestone,” White said. “Our thanks go, as well, to the many stakeholders who helped craft Seattle’s shoreline program.”

More than 200 Washington cities and counties with regulated shorelines are updating their shoreline master programs.

Though it was an “often contentious negotiation process,” Shuler praised the efforts of the city. She said she gives Mayor Ed Murray and his staff credit for what was accomplished.

With the program approved, the only watercraft that can be added in are more conventional vessels such as sailboats and cabin cruisers.

So anyone looking to live out their “Sleepless in Seattle”-type dreams will have to downsize, or at least wait for a “for sale” sign to go up.