Seattle cracks down on houseboat-like boats

Kevin and Linda Bagley gave up their roomy landlubber's house years ago to do something iconically Seattle: They moved into a paddle-wheeler on Lake Union.

"We absolutely love the lake lifestyle," said Kevin Bagley. "It's something we wake up to every morning and appreciate."

Except lately, that lifestyle has been a little stressful. For months, the city has been updating its shoreline rules, guided by a policy that takes a dim view of living on water. It's believed that floating homes are bad for salmon and other aquatic life, and that they diminish public access to shorelines.

Already, the city has proposed a ban on new houseboats. But the latest draft would also ban new boats that masquerade as floating homes, and would impose some environmental rules on existing ones. That's causing angst among Seattle's eclectic community of liveaboards who bob on the city's lakes and bays.

Boat, house or barge?

To most people, a houseboat is something that looks like the "Sleepless in Seattle" home. But to the city, water dwellers fall into distinct categories, each with its own set of byzantine rules.

There are "floating homes," which must have a sewer connection.

There are "house barges," which look like floating homes, but don't have a sewer hook-up and have to pump out their grey water (dish- and bathwater). One hallmark of house barges is that they have no means of self-propulsion, which distinguishes them from a "vessel."

The city banned house barges in 1990 except for a few grandfathered ones.

"Vessels" include self-propelled boats. Some look a lot like Tom Hanks' houseboat. Vessel liveaboards don't have to pump out their grey water and can dump it in the lake and Puget Sound.

(In case you're wondering, no one's allowed to dump "black water" into Seattle's waterways; it must be pumped out if no sewer line exists.)

Since the city cracked down on house barges in 1990, there's been a proliferation of homes that look like both boat and house, causing a lot of debate between liveaboards and the city.

To the public, they look like a typical floating home. But a closer look reveals an outboard motor and steering wheel.

Owners say that makes them boat-like vessels which don't have to follow rules for floating homes and barges.

The city disagrees. It says they're more like houses, and that the motors and steering wheels were a way for owners to circumvent the 1990 barge ban.

"They got around that definition," said Maggie Glowacki, a senior land-use planner for Seattle's Department of Planning and Development. She estimated there are about 150 such structures. Most are on Lake Union.

Glowacki said the city's proposal clarifies the intent of the 1990 rule. 

"Our waters are preserved for water-dependent uses," she said. In other words, houseboats are nice and romantic, but not a necessity.

The proposal would define barges as something "primarily designed for residential use." It would then retroactively boot out barges that arrived on the water since Jan. 1, 2011, and forbid remaining ones from dumping grey water. 

'Offended' by amount of government power

The proposal worried Kevin Bagley, president of the Lake Union Liveaboard Association, who said it was too vague.

"How are they going to to do it?" he said. "Will it be, 'You've got shingles, so you're a place of residence'?" he said.

Will the city, he wondered, suddenly say "boxy-shaped" boats are barges? Could his own squarish boat -- a 72-foot-long paddle-wheeler that cruises in parades for Opening Day and the Christmas ships -- be considered a barge?

"I am a Coast Guard-certified vessel designed for propulsion, but they can now wave their hand and declare me a house barge and I can be regulated a such," he said.

"I'm personally offended the government can have that kind of power."

He wondered why other liveaboards -- such as those on sleek yachts that don't resemble Tom Hanks' houseboat -- weren't targeted by the draft rules. And he said many liveaboards already are already environmental stewards of the lake.

Glowacki said the city is consulting with a naval architect to create a rule that is easily understood. The public has until Dec. 23 to comment on the rules; they will then be reviewed by Glowacki's department and the Seattle City Council.

Visit seattlepi.com's home page for more Seattle news. Contact Vanessa Ho at 206-448-8003 or vanessaho@seattlepi.com, and follow her on Twitter as @vanessaho.