The Seattle City Council will vote next week on a proposal to tighten restrictions on empty properties that are part of the city's Vacant Building Monitoring Program. The proposal comes as the city has seen an increase in unsecured vacant buildings since 2021. Representatives of the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) said unsecured properties pose an ongoing public safety risk. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of unsecured vacant buildings increased by 41%. SDCI reported a 57% increase in buildings that are secured but otherwise have some sort of maintenance or safety violation. The city is on track to surpass both of those statistics this year. Story: https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/seattle/city-council-unsecured-vacant-buildings-seattle-ordinance/281-6e4aa975-c695-4242-ac4b-b75ab37faf7b