Local Rules Near Downtown Bellevue

Bellevue's noise code sets quiet hours of 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and 10:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. on weekends for residential (Class A EDNA) properties, when routine daytime noise exemptions stop applying and nighttime sound limits tighten under BCC Chapter 9.18.

Bellevue's noise ordinance flatly exempts sounds from aircraft in flight, so flight noise over the city, whether from planes bound for SeaTac, Boeing Field, or Renton Municipal, falls outside the chapter's decibel limits and disturbance rules entirely.

Bellevue caps sound crossing a property line at 55 to 70 dBA depending on the noise source's and receiving property's zone classification (EDNA), with a 10 dBA nighttime cutback for residential areas, under BCC 9.18.030.

Construction noise in Bellevue is exempt from the noise code only between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays; work outside those hours or on Sundays and holidays needs a director-approved construction noise exemption under BCC 9.18.020(C).

Running amplified music or sound equipment in Bellevue needs a development-services director permit filed at least a week ahead, limited to set evening hours, capped at four days per week at any one location, and barred if it's plainly audible to a school during class or a hospital.

Bellevue treats a car stereo audible 75 feet away or across a property line as a noise disturbance under Chapter 9.18, punishable by a $250 civil infraction. Engine compression brakes are separately banned on city streets for trucks and truck tractors at any time.

Bellevue requires STR operators to carry at least $1,000,000 in liability insurance under LUC 20.20.800. Platform-provided host protection like Airbnb AirCover may satisfy the requirement.

Bellevue requires STR operators to file a Registration Notice with Development Services and obtain a business license under LUC 20.20.800. Entire single-family homes cannot be rented short-term.

Bellevue bans igniting or discharging any fireworks anywhere in the city at any time under BCC 23.11.5608.2, the city's local amendment to the International Fire Code. The only exceptions are permitted public displays, approved religious-purpose uses, and state-defined trick, novelty, agricultural or wildlife fireworks. A separate section bars possessing or using fireworks in any city park without a parks permit.

Bellevue adopts the 2021 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code by reference alongside the 2021 International Fire Code, both as amended by the State Building Code Council. The fire marshal enforces both codes citywide under Bellevue City Code 23.11.100.

Bellevue requires owners and occupants to cut and remove weeds, grass, vines or other growth capable of igniting on both open lots and lots with an occupied or vacant dwelling. The rule sits in the fire code's vegetation section, BCC 23.11.304.1.2.

Bellevue lets residents burn recreational fires and use portable outdoor fireplaces without a permit, but recreational fires must stay 25 feet from any structure or combustible material and be constantly attended with an extinguisher on hand. Bonfires need a fire code permit and a 50-foot setback.

Open burning is banned at all times in Bellevue under a permanent Puget Sound Clean Air Agency ban dating to September 1992, with narrow exceptions for bonfires, recreational fires and portable outdoor fireplaces. Additional burn bans for air quality or fire danger suspend even those exceptions.

Bellevue's amended Fire Code caps aggregate liquefied petroleum gas storage at any single installation at 2,000 gallons of water capacity. The fire chief can raise that ceiling case by case after weighing topography, occupancy type, tank size, private fire protection and fire department access. Bulk LP-gas storage is also confined to land zoned Light Industrial (LI) or General Commercial (GC) on the city's official zoning map.

Bellevue follows Washington State Building Code requiring smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside sleeping areas, and on every level, plus CO alarms under RCW 19.27.530.

Bellevue bans parking a vehicle on the same block of a public street for more than 24 consecutive hours under BCC 11.23.020, unless official signs say otherwise. A car must move to a different block every 24 hours or it is treated as illegally parked, regardless of whether it was moved within the same block.

Bellevue's city council may establish residential permit parking zones restricting on-street parking to permit holders on specified streets under BCC 11.23.010, with time-limited or time-of-day options for non-permit vehicles. Selling, transferring or counterfeiting an RPZ permit is a separate $250.00 infraction.

Bellevue bans parking that blocks driveways, intersections, fire hydrants, crosswalks and other clearances under BCC 11.23.007, and separately makes it unlawful to leave any vehicle on the traveled roadway in a way that blocks or obstructs traffic flow under BCC 11.23.025. Both are enforced as parking infractions.

Bellevue requires a special permit from the traffic engineer before any vehicle can load or unload merchandise at a curb loading zone, or at any spot where parking, stopping or standing is otherwise banned. The permit sets the terms, and breaking them is its own violation.

Bellevue bans large trucks, truck-trailer rigs and semitrailer combinations over 8 feet wide, 30 feet long or 32,000 pounds from operating in residential areas between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. without a Type B or D permit. The same size threshold also needs a permit just to park on any public right-of-way.

Bellevue's code compliance officers can order junk vehicles removed from private property under BCC 9.09.040. A junk vehicle is three years or older, extensively damaged, inoperable, unregistered, and worth only its scrap value. Abandoning one is a Class 1 civil infraction, and the city can remove, impound and lien the property for costs.

Bellevue exempts retaining walls up to four feet from a building permit under BCC 23.05.090, but anything taller, or one holding back a surcharge, needs a permit. Modular block walls over four feet must be engineer-designed with a wall drain under BCC 23.76.086.

Bellevue prohibits leaving, placing or distributing food in any city park with intent to feed farm animals or wildlife, under BCC 3.43.090. The rule targets geese, ducks, deer and other park wildlife and exempts only city parks department staff performing authorized feeding. It sits inside Chapter 3.43's parks conduct code, enforced by the city manager or a designee.

Bellevue requires dogs and other pets in city parks to be leashed at no more than six feet, securely caged, or otherwise restrained from running free, under BCC 3.43.145. Letting a dog run at large in a park is unlawful except for dogs used by an on-duty law enforcement officer. The rule applies parkwide unless an area is posted off-limits to animals entirely.

Bellevue enforces animal control through King County's Title 11 code, adopted by BCC 8.05.010. Any cat over eight weeks old kept in the city more than thirty days needs a King County pet license: $60 unaltered, $30 if altered. Cats face no leash or at-large law; only dogs do, and feral colony caretakers are not treated as owners.

Bellevue's right-of-way landscaping code favors native plant species when street-side vegetation must be replaced, giving native and proven urban-hardy plants priority over other replacement stock under BCC 14.60.120(C).

Bellevue makes it the abutting owner's duty to trim trees, shrubs or vegetation that overhang and obstruct a sidewalk, street or right-of-way, or that block sightlines at an intersection. Refusing to comply after notice risks a fine up to $300, up to 90 days in jail, or both.

Bellevue caps how many significant or landmark trees you can remove without replanting, tied to lot size, under BCC 23.76.060. Go over the annual threshold and you must replant on a set ratio, with a certified tree protection plan required for any covered clearing or grading permit.

Bellevue bans wasting utility water at all times under BCC 24.02.200, and any new or modified landscaping project of 500 square feet or more must meet a certified irrigation water budget under BCC 24.02.205. During a declared shortage, the utility director can impose additional watering restrictions and rate surcharges under BCC 24.02.090.

Rainwater harvesting is legal in Bellevue under Washington state policy; rooftop collection for irrigation and non-potable uses is allowed without a water right permit.

Bellevue cottage food producers are regulated by Washington State under RCW 69.22 via WSDA. Sales up to $25,000 per year of approved low-risk foods like baked goods and jams. A WSDA permit is required.

Family home child care in Bellevue is licensed by Washington DCYF under WAC 110-300. Up to 12 children with required staff ratios. Home occupation compliance under LUC 20.30L is also required.

Bellevue requires a building permit for constructing or altering a swimming pool under the general permit rule at BCC 23.05.090(A); only small prefabricated above-ground pools under 24 inches deep and 5,000 gallons are exempt under BCC 23.05.090(B)(3)(i). Every permitted outdoor pool, spa or hot tub must also meet the barrier standard in BCC 23.16.010.

Bellevue requires every outdoor swimming pool, spa and hot tub, new or existing, to have a barrier meeting the state-amended 2021 International Building Code Section 3109.1 or the 2021 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code Section 305, whichever governs the structure it serves. Older pools can keep the enclosure that met the code in effect when they were built.

Bellevue caps LPG containers used with portable outdoor barbecues on occupied roofs of apartment and condo buildings (Group R-2) at 16.4 ounces, matching a standard one-pound camping cylinder. Grills must also be cleaned periodically to remove grease buildup.

Bellevue bans open burning citywide under a 1992 Puget Sound Clean Air Agency ban, but bonfires, recreational fires and portable outdoor fireplaces are carved out as exceptions. A bonfire needs a fire code official permit and must sit 50 feet from any structure or combustible material.

Bellevue requires a drainage connection permit before any property connects to or modifies the public storm and surface water system, and larger detention or treatment work needs a utility developer extension agreement. Permits expire after two years, and the Utilities Department enforces the code with civil penalties reaching $500 per day.

Bellevue amends the International Building Code to require that construction in flood hazard areas follow the FEMA Flood Insurance Study for King County and the accompanying Flood Insurance Rate Maps, both dated August 19, 2020. Design elevations must meet ASCE 24 and cross-referenced Land Use Code Section 20.25H.175.

Bellevue requires new residential construction in flood hazard areas to sit at least one foot above the base flood elevation shown on FEMA's King County Flood Insurance Study, a freeboard margin built into the city's amended International Residential Code. The rule applies wherever a FEMA flood hazard map or the King County FIS controls the site.

Bellevue requires a Construction Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (CSWPPP) for clearing, grading and land-disturbing projects that trip the city's permit thresholds, and bars most clearing, grading and hauling between October 1 and April 30 unless the applicant shows silt-laden runoff will stay on site, with a flat ban during heavy rain.

Washington RCW 64.38.055 limits HOA restrictions on solar panels. HOAs cannot prohibit solar but can impose reasonable aesthetic rules. Bellevue has no additional HOA overrides.

Bellevue bans digital billboards outright but allows LED readerboards only as noncommercial public service signs, capped at one message change every eight hours and required to shut off overnight from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

Reasonable seasonal decorations are exempt from Bellevue's Sign Code within the appropriate holiday season, but BCC 22B.10.130(I) requires their removal within five days after the holiday season ends.

Bellevue allows political signs on private property year-round under BCC 22B.10.120(F), but signs promoting candidates or ballot issues must come down within seven days after the election, and signs in the right-of-way are capped at four square feet and five feet tall.

Bellevue caps window signs at 15 square feet total, or 10 percent of the window area, whichever applies, under BCC 22B.10.030(H). Window signs don't count toward a building's primary sign allotment, but they carry their own hard ceiling enforced by the Development Services director.

Signs within Bellevue's 375-foot freeway corridor along each side of the right-of-way face extra design-review criteria under BCC 22B.10.025(E)(5): letter and logo height generally capped at 42 inches and total sign length limited to one-third of the building facade.

Bellevue's Abatement of Dangerous Buildings Code lets the building official declare a structurally unsound, fire-damaged or unsanitary building a public nuisance and order it repaired, vacated or demolished within a set deadline.

Bellevue caps weeds and turf grass at eight inches on vacant residences and abandoned construction sites in its single-family land use districts under BCC 9.13.040(A). A dwelling counts as vacant after 90 consecutive unoccupied days, and owners must keep the premises clean, sanitary and vermin-free or face a public nuisance civil violation.

Bellevue's Uniform Housing Code requires every dwelling unit, lodging house and congregate residence to have heating that holds 70°F at three feet above the floor in habitable rooms, bans unvented fuel-burning heaters, and requires safe, code-compliant electrical service with at least two outlets, or an outlet and a light fixture, in every habitable room.

Rent control is prohibited statewide in Washington under RCW 35.21.830. Bellevue cannot enact rent control. Landlords may raise rent with proper 60-day notice.

Washington's 2021 Just Cause law (RCW 59.18.650) applies statewide including Bellevue. Landlords must cite one of 16 authorized reasons to terminate a tenancy.

Bellevue bars residents from mixing yard waste into garbage or recycling containers. Yard debris (grass, leaves, weeds, and branches under four inches thick and five feet long) must go out separately in approved containers through the city's yard waste collection program or the hauler will not pick it up.

Bellevue designates eight materials, including newspaper, mixed paper, aluminum, glass, PET bottles, and yard waste, as recyclable under BCC 9.26.030, runs its own solid waste system separate from King County, and bars mixing yard waste into trash or recycling bins.

Bellevue Municipal Code designates eight material categories that count as recyclable under city law: newspaper, mixed paper, aluminum containers, glass containers, bi-metal containers, PET plastic bottles, yard waste and scrap nonferrous metals. The city administers collection through its contracted hauler rather than a separate residential mandate.

BCC 9.11.060 requires every dumpster and drop box in Bellevue to carry a lid that stays closed to keep out animals and prevent litter from scattering, and bars anyone from using a business's or multifamily building's dumpster without that owner's permission. A dumpster holds 1.25 to 8 cubic yards; a drop box holds 10 to 30.

Bellevue's Anti-Litter Code, BCC 9.11.030, bans throwing or depositing litter on streets, sidewalks, private property, parks or waterways. Construction sites must contain their debris, and finding three or more identifiable pieces of litter creates a legal presumption the source is responsible. Violations are civil infractions or a misdemeanor.

Mobile food peddling on a Bellevue public sidewalk or street is regulated as a Type D long-term right-of-way use under BCC 14.30.080(D)(3)(e), meaning a vendor needs a right-of-way use permit from the transportation department before setting up, the same permit required for any private use of the right-of-way under BCC 14.30.070.

Bellevue treats mobile peddling, including food vending, as a Type D long-term right-of-way use under BCC 14.30.080. Anyone selling from a fixed public right-of-way location needs a right-of-way use permit before operating there.

Bellevue requires a fire code operational permit for any mobile food preparation vehicle equipped with appliances producing smoke or grease-laden vapors, or that run LP-gas or CNG systems. A valid permit from another participating fire agency can be honored if the vehicle stays within its permit conditions.

Bellevue parks close one-half hour after sunset and reopen one-half hour before sunrise under BCC 3.43.330, except Downtown Park, which closes at 11:00 p.m. Being in a park, or leaving a vehicle unattended there, after closing time is unlawful. Scheduled parks department events and dedicated roads and sidewalks used for through transportation are exempt from the curfew.

Bellevue requires street landscaping and tree planting along public streets whenever street frontage improvements are triggered by new development, subject to species and maintenance rules in BCC 14.60.120.

Removing a landmark tree in Bellevue needs a clearing and grading permit and triggers replanting: three replacement trees per landmark tree removed, or two large conifers if the director approves. Illegal removal draws a monetary penalty set at the greater of the code's in-lieu fee or full replacement value, doubled for repeat violations.

Bellevue HOAs with architectural review committees must follow CC&R-defined standards and WUCIOA procedures, while still requiring city permits for zoning and building compliance.

Bellevue requires sprinklers throughout any newly built structure over 10,000 square feet, and lets Group R apartment and condo buildings up to four stories use the lighter NFPA 13R standard instead of full NFPA 13. Taller Group R buildings built under the state's height-increase rules must use NFPA 13 throughout.

Bellevue requires building operators to keep every elevator accessible, usable and in good working order at all times, and to notify all occupants by text, e-mail or phone plus a posted notice whenever one goes down. Single-elevator residential buildings face extra repair and housing duties.

Any installation, alteration, repair, replacement or maintenance of electrical systems, wiring or equipment in Bellevue needs a permit under BCC 23.05.090(C), issued under the authority of Chapter 19.28 RCW. The city enforces the 2023 Edition of the Washington Cities Electrical Code, based on the National Electrical Code, adopted in BCC 23.30.015.

Bellevue requires a permit before anyone constructs, enlarges, alters, repairs, moves, demolishes or changes the occupancy of a building, or installs, alters or replaces an electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system, under BCC 23.05.090(A). About twenty categories of minor work are exempt under subsection B, but an exemption from one technical code never waives the others.

Bellevue's building official inspects all permitted construction at defined stages under BCC 23.05.130, and work must stay accessible and exposed until each inspection is approved. A certificate of occupancy under BCC 23.05.140 can only issue after the building official finds no code violations and confirms compliance with the permit.

Bellevue enforces the 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code, as amended by the state, for every plumbing installation in the city, and BCC 23.05.090 requires anyone installing, altering or replacing a plumbing system to first apply to the building official and obtain a permit before starting work.

Bellevue relies on EPA and Washington Department of Commerce lead-based paint rules (RRP) for homes built before 1978, with permit-triggered disclosures for renovations.

Any promoter running a Bellevue trade show, festival, fair, or similar event with 15 or more vendors must hold a temporary special event license. Licenses run up to 10 consecutive days, cost $5 per vendor per day (capped at $40 per vendor), and unpaid fees draw a 10 percent penalty plus 12 percent annual interest.

Bellevue requires written notice to the chief of police and city engineer, and a permit from the chief of police, before parading on any city street under BCC 11.24.040. Notice must arrive 24 hours ahead, though the chief can waive or shorten that window for unexpected events.

Bellevue's traffic engineer issues special permits to close a city street or traffic lane to vehicle traffic, the mechanism used for block parties and similar temporary closures, under BCC 11.24.080. A closure permit cannot exceed seven consecutive days, and violating its terms is unlawful.

Any use of amplified sound at a Bellevue park event, from a PA system to a live band, needs a permit once it carries beyond 30 feet, under BCC 3.43.260. The city manager's designee approves or conditions the permit if the sound won't create a nuisance or endanger health, safety or property, and the event is open to the public. Alcohol at an organized park gathering needs a separate permit under BCC 3.43.250.

A restaurant that wants to put cafe seating on a Bellevue public sidewalk needs a Type D long-term right-of-way use permit under BCC 14.30.080(D)(3)(i), which names 'sidewalk cafes' directly, on top of the general right-of-way use permit requirement in BCC 14.30.070 that applies to any private use of city right-of-way.

Bellevue property owners must trim or remove trees, shrubs and vegetation that overhang or obstruct a sidewalk, street or public right-of-way. BCC 14.06.010 declares overgrowth that blocks pedestrian passage, blocks sight lines at intersections, or fouls utility lines a public nuisance, and the abutting owner bears the legal duty to abate it under BCC 14.06.020 and 14.06.030.

Anyone making private use of a Bellevue public right-of-way, from a dumpster on the street to a fence or structure encroaching onto public property, needs a right-of-way use permit first under BCC 14.30.070. The transportation department issues four permit types and can require additional permits under other city codes per BCC 14.30.075.

Bars and nightclubs in Bellevue are stationary noise sources under the city's general noise control chapter. Amplified sound (live bands, DJs) requires a sound amplification permit, and any noise audible 75 feet away or across a property line can trigger a $250 civil noise infraction.

Bellevue exempts portable and stationary backup generators from its noise code only while the power is actually out from a disaster or outage, capping stationary units at 75 dBA at the property line; run one for convenience with power available and it falls under the general decibel limits.

Bellevue makes it a misdemeanor to camp on nonresidential public property between sunset and sunrise unless the city has set aside and posted the spot for camping or issued a permit. The law carries a shelter-availability defense: it does not apply when no free overnight shelter space exists.

Bellevue confines for-hire vehicles, including rideshare cars, to designated taxicab stands or loading zones under BCC 11.23.026, except for brief stops to load or unload passengers. The traffic engineer designates those stands under a Bellevue-specific modification of the state Model Traffic Ordinance.

Bellevue lets motorized foot scooters use roadways, bike lanes, and most paved trails, but bars them from unpaved natural-surface trails and any posted dismount zone. Riders must be 16 or older, cap sidewalk speed at 15 mph, and face up to a $250 fine for violations.

Bellevue runs automated cameras for red-light, school-zone, hospital-zone, park-zone and work-zone speeding under Chapter 11.49. Fines run $124 for a stoplight or speed hit and $248 in a school zone, with cameras barred from freeway on-ramps and from capturing driver or passenger faces.

Bellevue's Uniform Housing Code makes owners responsible for supplying and maintaining approved devices to prevent insect and rodent infestation in residential buildings, and for exterminating any infestation unless a lease or ruling shifts that duty to the tenant. Occupants must keep their own space clean and dispose of garbage and organic waste properly.

Bellevue levies a 5 percent lodging excise tax on charges for hotel, motel, rooming house, tourist court and trailer camp stays under BCC 4.19.010, collected by the state alongside sales tax and funneled into the city's hotel/motel tax fund.

Bellevue caps pawnshop licenses at one per 15,000 residents and charges $100 a year for a pawnshop or dealer license. Shops must close between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. except during the December holiday stretch, and every transaction gets logged for police review.

Bellevue requires anyone practicing massage in the city to hold a Washington State Department of Licensing massage practitioner license under RCW 18.108.030. Practicing or advertising as a massage practitioner without that license is a misdemeanor under BCC 10.06.090, and city officers can inspect massage business premises.

Bellevue requires a city license to operate an adult cabaret, plus separate licenses for every manager and entertainer, at fees of $700 a year for the business and $100 a year each for managers and entertainers. Violations bring a 30-day suspension on a first offense, 90 days on a second, and revocation on a third.

Bellevue makes it a misdemeanor to intentionally urinate or defecate in public, anywhere other than a washroom or toilet room, or anywhere the act could be seen by another person. A conviction carries up to 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.

Bellevue criminalizes aggressive begging, defined as asking for money or goods with intent to intimidate someone into giving. The offense covers any public place in the city, from sidewalks and parking areas to parks, and carries a misdemeanor penalty of up to 90 days in jail or a $1,000 fine.

Bellevue keeps roller skates, coasters, toy vehicles and similar wheeled devices, the category skateboards fall under, off city roadways except at marked crosswalks. Riders crossing there get pedestrian rights and duties, and violating the rule is a traffic infraction.

Bellevue makes it a gross misdemeanor to remain in a public place while intentionally soliciting, inducing, or procuring someone else to engage in illegal drug activity. Carrying paraphernalia or having a prior drug conviction alone cannot support a charge under BCC 10.06.041.

Bellevue does not punish the marijuana user directly for consuming in a controlled space; instead BCC 10.06.040 makes it a misdemeanor for anyone who owns or controls premises, a car, or a trailer to knowingly let another person use marijuana there.

Bellevue taxes businesses under BCC 4.09 by classification: extracting, manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing, printing/publishing and a catch-all "other" class, each at 0.1596 percent of gross receipts, plus a separate square-footage tax on office space.