Article VI. Towing and Impoundment Revised
10.12.610 Findings.
A. A vehicle parked in violation of this chapter may be hazardous to pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists; impede commerce; be detrimental to quiet enjoyment of residential neighborhoods.
B. The city has a significant interest in ensuring that its streets are free of hazards and usable for the purposes they were intended.
C. When a vehicle is used as a residence, the Washington State Homestead Act may apply.
1. Article 19, Section 1 of the Washington State Constitution provides that “The legislature shall protect by law from forced sale a certain portion of the homestead and other property of all heads of families.”
2. The Legislature has implemented that constitutional directive through the State Homestead Act, which in RCW 6.13.070 provides that real or personal property used as a residence “is exempt from attachment and from execution or forced sale for the debts of the owner up to the amount specified in RCW 6.13.030.”
3. The Washington State Supreme Court, in City of Seattle v. Long (2021), held that the Homestead Act “automatically protects occupied personal property as a homestead from attachment, execution, or forced sale.”
4. The Court also found that “the Homestead Act is not a sword to prevent impoundment,” and no attachment, execution, or forced sale occurs solely because a vehicle is impounded; the Homestead Act’s protections instead apply when a city attempts to collect upon the impound debt.
5. The Court found that sanctions that are partially or wholly punitive are limited by the Excessive Fines clause of the United States Constitution, and impound fees are at least partially punitive and therefore subject to a requirement for an ability-to-pay analysis. (Ord. 4054 § 1 (Att. A), 2023)