BILL REQ. #:  S-1544.1 

Read first time 02/21/2005.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to parking and business improvement areas; and amending RCW 35.87A.010.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 35.87A.010 and 2000 c 201 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     To aid general economic development and neighborhood revitalization, and to facilitate the cooperation of merchants, businesses, and residential property owners which assists trade, economic viability, and liveability, the legislature hereby authorizes all counties and all incorporated cities and towns, including unclassified cities and towns operating under special charters:
     (1) To establish, after a petition submitted by the operators responsible for sixty percent of the assessments by businesses and multifamily residential or mixed-use projects within the area, parking and business improvement areas, hereafter referred to as area or areas, for the following purposes:
     (a) The acquisition, construction or maintenance of parking facilities for the benefit of the area;
     (b) Decoration of any public place in the area;
     (c) Sponsorship or promotion of public events which are to take place on or in public places in the area;
     (d) Furnishing of music in any public place in the area;
     (e) Providing professional management, planning, and promotion for the area, including the management and promotion of retail trade activities in the area; ((or))
     (f) Providing maintenance and security for common, public areas; or
     (g) Providing transportation services for the benefit of the area.
     (2) To levy special assessments on all businesses and multifamily residential or mixed-use projects within the area and specially benefited by a parking and business improvement area to pay in whole or in part the damages or costs incurred therein as provided in this chapter.