40.460.745 Enforcement

A.    General Enforcement.

1.    The enforcement provisions of RCW 90.58.210 and WAC 173-27-240 through 173-27-310 shall apply.

2.    The Shoreline Management Act calls for a cooperative enforcement program between local and state government. It provides for both civil and criminal penalties, orders to cease and desist, orders to take corrective action and permit rescission. The choice of enforcement action and the severity of any penalty should be based on the nature of the violation and the damage or risk to the public or to public resources. The existence or degree of bad faith of the persons subject to the enforcement action, the benefits that accrue to the violator, and the cost of obtaining compliance may also be considered.

3.    The Shoreline Administrator, and/or authorized representative, shall have the authority to enforce the shoreline regulations of the county.

4.    The Shoreline Administrator with the consent of the owner or occupier of a building or premises, or pursuant to a lawfully issued inspection warrant, may enter at reasonable times any building or premises subject to the consent or warrant to perform the duties imposed by this Program.

5.    These shoreline regulations shall be enforced for the benefit of the health, safety and welfare of the general public, and not for the benefit of any particular person or class of persons.

6.    No provision of, or term used in, this code is intended to impose upon the county, or any of its officers or employees, any duty which would subject them to damages in a civil action.

B.    Investigation and Notice of Violation.

1.    An investigation shall be made of any structure or use which the county reasonably believes does not comply with the standards and requirements of this Program.

2.    If, after an investigation, it is determined that the standards or requirements of this title have been violated, a notice of violation shall be served, by first class mail, upon the owner, tenant or other person responsible for the condition.

3.    The compliance period shall not be less than two (2) weeks, except where substantial life safety issues exist.

C.    Penalties.

    Any person found to have willfully engaged in activities on the county’s shorelines in violation of the Act or in violation of this Program, and rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto, shall be subject to the penalty provisions of Title 32.

D.    Violations – Subsequent Development and Building Permits.

    No building permit or other development permit shall be issued for any parcel of land developed or divided in violation of this Program. All purchasers or transferees of property shall comply with provisions of the Act and this Program and each purchaser or transferee may recover damages from any person, firm, corporation, or agent selling, transferring, or leasing land in violation of the Act or this Program. Damages may include any amount reasonably spent as a result of inability to obtain any development permit and spent to conform to the requirements of the Act or this Program as well as costs of investigation, suit, and reasonable attorneys’ fees occasioned thereby. Such purchaser, transferee, or lessor, as an alternative to conforming their property to these requirements, may rescind the sale, transfer, or lease and recover costs of investigation, litigation and reasonable attorneys’ fees occasioned thereby from the violator.

(Added: Ord. 2012-07-16)