Sammamish, WA Parking Rules: Abandoned Vehicles (2026)
Key Facts
- Enforcing office
- Community Development Director
- Definition section
- SMC 23.150.010 "junk vehicle"
- Appeal window
- 10 calendar days
- Noncompliance penalty
- $250-$1,000 per day
- Uncorrected order
- City abates, bills owner, liens property
Summary
Sammamish code compliance treats inoperable, wrecked, or disassembled vehicles left on public or private property as a public nuisance under SMC 23.150.010. The community development director can issue a notice and order requiring removal; owners who miss the 10-day appeal window or ignore the order face City abatement, towing costs, and civil penalties that climb to $1,000 a day.
“Nuisance” (also referred to herein as “violation” or “nuisance violation”) means: (1) A violation of any City of Sammamish development, land use, or public health ordinance; (2) Doing an act, omitting to perform any act or duty, or permitting or allowing any act or omission that annoys, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, or safety of others, is unreasonably offensive to the senses, or that obstructs or interferes with the free use of property so as to interfere with or disrupt the free use of that property by any lawful owner or occupant; (3) Potential vermin habitat or fire hazard; or (4) Junk Vehicles. A “junk vehicle” includes apparent inoperable, immobile, disassembled, or extensively damaged vehicles. In addition, any wrecked inoperable, abandoned, or disassembled trailer, house trailer, boat, tractor, automobile, other vehicle, or any parts thereof.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance O2026-598, and legislation passed through August 18, 2026).
Full Breakdown
010 defines a public "nuisance" to include Junk Vehicles: apparent inoperable, immobile, disassembled, or extensively damaged vehicles, and any wrecked, inoperable, abandoned, or disassembled trailer, house trailer, boat, tractor, automobile, or vehicle parts. 30 SMC separately declares that all code violations, including this nuisance category, are detrimental to public health, safety and welfare. 010). 010). 010). Unpaid abatement costs become a lien against the property, subordinate only to prior special assessments and superior to other liens except state and county taxes. 010: noncompliance runs $250 per day for days one through fifteen, $500 per day for days sixteen through thirty-one, and $1,000 per day after that, on top of a possible $1,000 infraction penalty. 010(5).
Violations & Fines
Ignoring a notice and order lets Sammamish abate the junk vehicle itself and bill the owner for towing, storage, and disposal, plus legal and administrative costs, secured by a lien on the property (SMC 23.120.010). Civil penalties run $250/day for the first 15 days of noncompliance, $500/day through day 31, and $1,000/day after that (SMC 23.100.010); ignoring a final hearing examiner order is a misdemeanor punishable by up to $1,000 and 90 days in jail.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a vehicle a nuisance under Sammamish code?
How much time do I get to fix or appeal a violation?
What does it cost if the City has to remove the vehicle itself?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Sammamish
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Abandoned Vehicles in Nearby Cities
How other cities in King County handle abandoned vehicles.