(The Center Square) – Spokane is considering an ordinance that would copy the state’s law on littering, allowing property owners to get a chunk of the change for clean-up efforts.
Mayor Lisa Brown proposed the ordinance last month to curb illegal dumping. For certain offenses, it raises the stakes from a ticket to a misdemeanor. The law mirroring that at the state level would replace a 2022 ordinance tying violations to either Class 1, 2 or 3 civil infractions.
The Spokane City Council will vote on whether to adopt the ordinance on Monday night as another rally intends to make its case to the elected officials. Homelessness and littering are hot topics around town, with residents pleading for city officials to clean up the streets.
“The intent of our ordinance is to adopt the entirety of the RCW and enforce it,” Spokane Communications Director Erin Hut told The Center Square.
According to the Revised Code of Washington, littering in any amount less than or equal to a cubic foot is a Class 3 civil infraction, subject to a $50 fine under Brown’s ordinance. That penalty increases to a misdemeanor for any amount between a cubic foot and 10 cubic yards.
Littering becomes a gross misdemeanor after exceeding 10 cubic yards. All will stand the same in Spokane if the officials approve Brown’s ordinance, but there’s more to it than that.
“A person found liable or guilty under this section shall, in addition to the penalties provided for misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, or for natural resource infractions,” according to the RCW, “also pay a litter clean-up restitution payment equal to four times the actual cost of clean-up … misdemeanors and two times the actual cost of clean-up for gross misdemeanors.”
The law then directs the court to distribute a portion of that restitution equal to “the actual cost of clean-up” to the property owner, with the remainder going toward the agency investigating. It also has an option to make the guilty party do the clean-up “in addition to or in lieu of” the restitution.
If the guilty party is a first-time offender, the court can suspend the restitution if the person cleans it up themselves. According to the RCW, junk vehicles on any property are also a gross misdemeanor, pointing to another state law that allows property owners to remove them.
Littering typically takes place along rights-of-way and other public property, so the ordinance probably won’t result in a new income stream for owners. Still, it could mitigate a rather smelly eyesore impacting business and quality of life, which a recent poll ranked a 3.7 out of 10.
According to Spokane’s Code Enforcement dashboard, two teams within the department picked up 1.6 million pounds of garbage last year, with 1.18 million from January to September 2024.
“Code Enforcement reports, on average, over 20 tons of garbage is illegally dumped and discarded throughout the city of Spokane every month,” according to the proposed ordinance.
