Lynnwood, WA Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Chapter 16.08 LMC lets the director of development and business services, or the hearing examiner, act against three categories of problem property: unfit buildings, substandard buildings, and nuisances. A building is unfit under LMC 16.08.230 when conditions such as dilapidation, structural defects, inadequate ventilation, light, sanitation or drainage endanger occupants; demolition is required outright where structural deterioration is severe (for example a wall leaning outside the middle third of its base, or a third of supporting members damaged), where repair would cost more than 60 percent of the building's value, or where fire damage exceeds 30 percent of value and the building has sat vacant six months or more. LMC 16.08.240 separately covers substandard conditions, including defective or hazardous wiring and plumbing that either predates current code or has not been kept in safe condition.

The process runs through LMC 16.08.260 and 16.08.270: the director serves a written complaint (personally or by certified mail), posts it on the property, files a copy with the Snohomish County auditor as a lis pendens, and the hearing examiner holds a Process II hearing under LMC 1.35.200. The examiner can order repair, vacation, boarding-up with an annual inspection fee under Chapter 3.104 LMC, or demolition, and if the owner cannot secure the building within 48 hours the city may do it and bill the cost. Unpaid abatement costs are certified to the Snohomish County treasurer for collection on the tax rolls.