Reviewed against the Seattle Municipal Code on June 2, 2026. Seattle sets its bicycle parking rules in the Land Use Code, Title 23, Section 23.54.037 (renumbered from the former 23.54.015.K), with the required amounts in Table A for 23.54.037. Requirements change and vary by use and zone. Always confirm the current code with the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections at permit time. This is planning guidance, not legal or permit advice.
Short answer
Seattle sets bicycle parking minimums in its Land Use Code, Section 23.54.037 (renumbered from the former 23.54.015.K), and the amounts are in Table A for 23.54.037. For a residential building, the long-term requirement is 1 bicycle parking space per dwelling unit, and the short-term requirement is 1 space per 20 dwelling units. Long-term means parking for bicycles left four or more hours; short-term is for stays under four hours. A footnote then reduces the additional long-term spaces required after the first 50 dwelling units to three-quarters of the base ratio, so Seattle can still create a large long-term bike-room count, especially before that after-50 step-down applies. Single-family residences are exempt.
Long-term versus short-term in Seattle
Seattle splits bicycle parking into two jobs, and Table A sets a separate number for each. The code draws the line by time: “Long-term parking for bicycles shall be for bicycles parked four or more hours. Short-term parking for bicycles shall be for bicycles parked less than four hours.” Long-term parking is the secure, weather-protected storage residents and employees use all day or overnight (a locked room or lockers). Short-term parking is the visible racks near the entrance for visitors and customers. Most projects need both.
This two-tier structure is the same idea the California cities use. What is specific to Seattle is the per-unit long-term ratio and the four-hour definition that draws the line.
What Seattle requires for multifamily
For residential uses, the minimums come from Table A for 23.54.037. The exact text:
| Residential use | Long-term | Short-term |
|---|---|---|
| Other residential uses | 1 per dwelling unit (long-term) | 1 per 20 dwelling units |
| Congregate residences | 1 per 4 sleeping rooms | 1 per 80 sleeping rooms. 2 spaces minimum |
| Single-family residences | None | None |
Source: Seattle Municipal Code, Table A for 23.54.037. The residential long-term requirement is one space for every dwelling unit, with a footnote that drops the requirement to three-quarters of that ratio for the dwelling units above the first 50. The short-term requirement does not apply to projects with fewer than 20 dwelling units. For long-term parking the code rounds the result up.
The Seattle wrinkle: one secure space per unit
Most cities set their residential long-term requirement as a fraction of the unit count (one space per two, three, or four units). Seattle sets the base at one secure space per dwelling unit, then a footnote reduces the additional spaces required after the first 50 dwelling units to three-quarters of that ratio. That base ratio is what makes Seattle bike rooms large, even with the after-50 step-down. A big building still needs a serious amount of secure, weather-protected storage to fit into a floor plate, so the rack mix is the whole game.
What Seattle requires for commercial uses
Commercial ratios in Table A are by floor area (a sample):
| Use | Long-term | Short-term |
|---|---|---|
| Offices and laboratories, research and development | 1 per 2,000 square feet | 1 per 10,000 square feet |
| Sales and services, general | 1 per 4,000 square feet | 1 per 2,000 square feet |
| Medical services | 1 per 4,000 square feet | 1 per 2,000 square feet |
| Eating and drinking establishments | 1 per 5,000 square feet | 1 per 1,000 square feet |
Source: Table A for 23.54.037. For a use not shown on the table, the code requires “one bicycle parking space per 10,000 gross square feet of either short- or long-term bicycle parking.” Pull the exact row for the specific use.
Design standards Seattle writes into the code
Section 23.54.037 and its design rules set the standards that decide whether the room or rack run counts. Under 23.54.037.B and 23.54.037.C, required long-term bicycle parking must be in secure locations such as locked rooms, cages, or lockers, and it must have full weather protection. Residential long-term parking must be located on-site unless the listed off-site exception applies. Short-term parking has to be accessible near the entrance. The minimum requirement for long-term parking rounds up.
What the multifamily number looks like in practice
Take a 120-unit apartment building (Other residential uses, standard dwelling units).
- Long-term: The base ratio is 1 per dwelling unit, and footnote 3 cuts the additional spaces after the first 50 units to three-quarters of that ratio. So the first 50 units require 50 spaces, and the remaining 70 units require 70 x 0.75 = 52.5 spaces. That is 50 + 52.5 = 102.5, rounded up to 103 long-term spaces, all in secure, weather-protected storage.
- Short-term: 1 per 20 dwelling units, so 120 / 20 = 6 short-term spaces in visible racks near the entrance. The short-term requirement does not apply to projects with fewer than 20 dwelling units, so a small building can carry zero short-term spaces.
That is 109 bicycle spaces, with 103 in a secure long-term room. A 103-space long-term room is a large bike room. At that scale the layout almost always means high-density racks (two-tier and vertical), which is exactly where the rack mix matters.
How Seattle relates to Washington and the California cities
Washington has no single statewide bicycle-parking mandate equivalent to California’s CALGreen; in Seattle, the Land Use Code sets the counts directly. Seattle’s base 1-long-term-space-per-unit ratio is high relative to cities that use a per-two-or-per-three-units fraction, though footnote 3 reduces the additional residential spaces after the first 50 units and the current row has affordability and zone exceptions. Seattle can still create a large long-term bike-room count, especially before the after-50 step-down applies. If you work across the West Coast, treat each city’s code as its own; for the California framework, see our California multifamily bike parking overview, and for the city-by-city set, the bike parking codes by city hub.
Where each type goes in a Seattle building
- Long-term is the secure, covered, locked storage: a ground-floor or garage-level bike room built from high-density long-term bike room layouts using two-tier (Double Docker) and vertical (Offset) racks. At Seattle’s base 1-per-unit ratio the density tradeoff matters: see vertical vs two-tier bike parking and the two-tier ceiling-height requirements, plus bike lockers vs bike rooms for the format choice.
- Short-term is visible bike racks near the main entrance for visitors.
What to send Ground Control Systems for a compliant layout
We do not set your code count. That is the project team’s call with the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections and your code consultant, starting with the use and the unit count. What we do is make the layout work once the count is known. Send us:
- The project address and use (residential unit count, or commercial floor area and use).
- The floor plan or a program sketch showing where a bike room or rack zone could go, and the finished ceiling height.
- Whether the project is pursuing LEED or a green-building target, which can set its own bike-parking threshold.
We come back with a bike-room layout, the product mix that fits the floor plate (vertical, two-tier, lockers, floor-mount racks, and scooter racks where relevant), the long-term and short-term split on the plan, and a quote. Reach us at 800-630-7225, info@groundcontrolsystems.com, or the contact page. The Download Center has CAD files and product specifications. For layout and code-support help, see services.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How many bike parking spaces does a Seattle apartment building need?
For residential uses, Table A for 23.54.037 requires long-term parking of one space per dwelling unit, plus one short-term space per 20 dwelling units. A footnote drops the long-term requirement to three-quarters of that ratio for the dwelling units above the first 50, and the short-term requirement does not apply to projects with fewer than 20 dwelling units. A 120-unit building works out to 103 long-term and 6 short-term spaces (the first 50 units at 1 per unit, the remaining 70 at three-quarters, rounded up). Single-family residences are exempt. Confirm with the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections.
Q: What is the difference between long-term and short-term bicycle parking in Seattle?
Seattle draws the line by time. Long-term parking is for bicycles parked four or more hours (secure, weather-protected storage for residents and employees). Short-term parking is for bicycles parked less than four hours (visible racks near the entrance for visitors). Most projects need both.
Q: Is the Seattle residential requirement really one space per unit?
Yes, as a base ratio. The live Seattle Municipal Code, Table A for 23.54.037, sets the residential long-term requirement at 1 per dwelling unit. A footnote then reduces the additional spaces required after the first 50 dwelling units to three-quarters of that ratio, so the per-unit number eases on larger buildings.
Q: Does Seattle follow a statewide code like California’s CALGreen?
No. Washington has no single statewide bicycle-parking mandate like CALGreen. In Seattle, the Land Use Code (Section 23.54.037) sets the counts directly, and the residential long-term base ratio is high relative to cities that use a per-two-or-per-three-units fraction, before the after-50 step-down applies.
Q: Is this legal advice?
No. This is a plain-language overview of how Seattle structures its bicycle parking requirements. It is not legal or permit advice and is not a substitute for the current code text. Confirm specifics with the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections and your project’s code consultant.
Sources
- Seattle Municipal Code, Title 23 Land Use Code, Section 23.54.037 (Bicycle parking; renumbered from the former 23.54.015.K) and Table A for 23.54.037 (Parking for Bicycles), current text Ord. 127376, official City of Seattle code on the Municode library: library.municode.com/wa/seattle (Chapter 23.54)
- City of Seattle, Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (bicycle parking / Land Use Code): seattle.gov/sdci