EVERETT, Wash. — The City of Everett has designated two new “no sit no lie” buffer zones on Colby Avenue and Broadway to address recurring public health and safety concerns.
The mayor-designated ordinance prohibits individuals from sitting or lying on public rights-of-way in the targeted commercial corridors.
The city’s buffer zone ordinance, originally enacted in 2023, bans sitting or lying on public property and restricts the distribution of supplies without a permit.
The policy applies strictly to public rights-of-way and does not extend to private property.
The new designations cover areas around Midnight Grocery on Colby Avenue and near a Safeway on Broadway near 18th Street following reports of open-air drug use, garbage accumulation, and trespassing.
Along Broadway, the city recorded 159 qualifying police calls for service between January 30 and July 29.
These calls included reports of suspicious activity, nuisance complaints, and trespassing, along with 14 direct referrals to community outreach teams, according to the City of Everett and its website.
City officials noted that the designation aims to manage public rights-of-way rather than solve underlying societal issues.
“It’s also important to emphasize that buffer zones are not intended to solve homelessness, substance use disorders or behavioral health crises,” the City of Everett said in an official statement. “Those are complex challenges that require comprehensive approaches, including outreach, treatment and access to services. Buffer zones are just one tool that provides the city with options for how to address specific, documented public health and safety concerns while continuing to support people in need.”
City officials specifically designated the Colby Avenue zone to address ongoing safety and sanitation issues surrounding local businesses.
“The Colby Avenue buffer zone, surrounding Midnight Grocery, addresses documented concerns including encampments obstructing public rights-of-way, garbage accumulation and open-air drug use,” the city stated.
Local business owners on Colby Avenue welcomed the enforcement expansion.
Nurish Singh, a local pizza shop owner whose business sits next to a public alley, said people frequently gather nearby to use drugs and ignore requests to move.
“It’s like they are doing drugs and most of them they just sit over here next to our place,” Singh said, adding that calling authorities had become a daily routine. “This parking lot I saw so many times; we also called the police so many times, and most of the time they said they cannot do anything. We used to call every day like two or three times.”
Nearby salon workers also said they were relieved their block is now covered by the ordinance.
Stylist Gayla Moore said uninvited individuals frequently entered their shop.
“It used to be only the other side of Colby, the ‘No Sit, No Lie,’ so it’s awesome!” Moore said.
Fellow stylist Dina Brown recalled a past safety incident outside the shop, stating she was assaulted on Colby Avenue about five years ago by a man who threatened her face with brass knuckles and threw her to the ground.
Mike Doyle, who says he regularly shops on Colby Avenue, observed fewer people gathering along the street.
“They used to be, but I haven’t seen any,” Doyle said.
The city noted that designations are made by the mayor based on recommendations from an interdepartmental staff team, with Community Assessment, Response and Engagement (CARE) teams distributing informational flyers and offering social services prior to and during enforcement.
Ongoing outreach within the designated buffer zones will continue, with CARE team social workers working to connect individuals with housing and support services while enforcement remains limited to necessary situations according to statements from the city of Everett.