Cowlitz County, WA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)
Key Facts
- Adopted code
- 1997 Uniform Code Abatement of Dangerous Buildings
- Violation classification
- Civil infraction, CCC § 16.05.200
- Daily violation
- Each day is a separate infraction
- Also declared
- Public nuisance, CCC § 16.05.210
- Local appeal board
- UCADB appeal chapters not adopted
Summary
Unincorporated Cowlitz County abates substandard structures under the 1997 Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings, adopted by reference at CCC § 16.05.130. Violating that code, or any adopted building code, is a civil infraction and a public nuisance, with each day of noncompliance a separate infraction.
§ 16.05.130. Abatement of dangerous buildings. ... Cowlitz County hereby adopts by reference the 1997 edition of the Uniform Code for the Abatement of Dangerous Buildings, as published by the International Conference of Building Officials and as now or hereafter amended. A. Section 205, Board of Appeals, is not adopted. B. Chapter 5, Appeal, is not adopted. C. Chapter 6, Procedures for Conduct of Hearing Appeals, is not adopted. § ... 16.05.200. ... Penalties. Any violation of any provision of this chapter or any code adopted hereby is a civil infraction, and shall be processed under the provisions of Chapter 2.06 CCC. Every day a violation continues is considered a separate infraction. A conviction and/or payment of monetary penalty does not relieve the violator from compliance with the provisions of this chapter. The penalty provisions of this chapter supersede all penalty provisions in the codes adopted herein. § ... 16.05.210. ... Nuisance. Failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter or of any code adopted hereby is declared to be a public nuisance.
Full Breakdown
130, and the adoption automatically carries forward any later amendment to that model code. 05 process rather than a UCADB-specific appeal board. 06 CCC, and every day the violation continues counts as its own separate infraction, so an unabated dangerous building can generate a running daily count rather than a single one-time citation. Paying a monetary penalty or being found in violation does not excuse the owner from actually bringing the building into compliance; the penalty provisions expressly supersede whatever penalty language the abated model codes carry themselves.
210 layers a second consequence on top: failing to comply with the chapter or any adopted code, dangerous buildings included, is separately declared a public nuisance, which opens the door to the county's nuisance abatement remedies rather than leaving penalties as the only tool.
Violations & Fines
A dangerous or substandard building left unabated is a civil infraction under CCC § 16.05.200, processed through Chapter 2.06 CCC, with every day the violation continues counted as a separate infraction; the same noncompliance is independently declared a public nuisance under CCC § 16.05.210, and paying the infraction penalty does not relieve the owner of the duty to bring the structure into compliance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What code governs dangerous or substandard buildings in unincorporated Cowlitz County?
What happens if I don't fix a building the county has flagged as dangerous?
Can the county call my building a nuisance in addition to citing me?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Cowlitz County
Compare Cowlitz County to another location·View the Washington property maintenance overview
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