The Kirkland City Council has amended a zoning code to place a cap on the amount of fines for code violations, as well as clarify the enforcement process.

The amendment in Chapter 1.12 Code Enforcement, approved at the council’s Sept. 2 meeting, changes the maximum amount the city can impose in fines per violation from a previously unlimited amount to $10,000.

Eric Shields, the planning director for the Planning and Community Development Department, said the amendment is also intended to streamline the procedure for dealing with code violations as well as the manner in which fines and penalties are assessed.

“The process is that an enforcement officer will talk to the person who is the potential violator and then determine the violation has occurred,” he said. “They notify the violator…the violator either says, ‘Okay, we will work out a voluntary compliance agreement, or the violator can decide to not do anything. We then take the matter to the hearing examiner.”

The examiner can then impose fines if they find there is an actual violation going on, he explained.

With the new amendment, penalties in some circumstances can also be reduced, though it also allows for the city to keep record of noncompliance on the property.

An Aug. 21 city memo addressed to City Manager Kurt Triplett stated that due to the limitless ceiling on fines, they can accumulate to the point where staff will simply send the case to collections.

“The preferred outcome of staff is always code compliance and not collection of fines,” the memo stated.

Redmond has a maximum civil penalty of $1,000 for each violation, according to the memo. Bellevue and Bothell have no maximum ceiling. Snohomish County has a $10,000 ceiling for noncommercial violations.