EVERETT — The city of Everett implemented a fifth “no sit, no lie” buffer zone in mid-December around the busy corridor of 41st street, according to a city website.
The new buffer zone stretches between 39th Street to the north and 43rd Street to the south, and from Friday Avenue to the west to an area beyond Wetmore Avenue to the east.
Buffer zones ban individuals from sitting or lying down on public property in certain areas of the city, and prohibit people from passing out food or supplies to those violating the ordinance without a permit. The law has been contentious since its implementation.
The city first approved a “no sit, no lie” zone in 2021, limited to a 10-block area east of Broadway, as part of a move to build a pallet shelter project there.
In 2023, the City Council approved an expansion of the law, giving the mayor and city staff new authority to create buffer zones in areas that are impacted by six of more “qualifying events” in six months. Qualifying events can include trespassing, theft, harassment, assault, unlawful transit conduct, offensive littering, drug-related offenses, obstructing streets, public disturbance or the presence of an encampment. New buffer zones don’t require council approval.
That expansion also prohibited individuals from providing food, water, supplies or services to people sitting or lying down in the zones without a permit.
The Everett Police Department and the city’s Community Alternative Response team conducted outreach in the area around 41st Street before the buffer zone was implemented, according to Simone Tarver, a city spokesperson. Tarver also said signage was posted and addresses within the zone received a mailer, along with the city’s website being updated.
Before the new zone around 41st Street, the most recent buffer zone added to Everett was in November 2024, when the city implemented a zone around the Imagine Children’s Museum in downtown. Prior to that, the city had implemented two other buffer zones in downtown Everett and a third around a now-shuttered south Everett Fred Meyer store.
In November 2025, the City Council voted to extend the buffer zone law, which was set to expire at the end of that year. It will remain in effect through the end of 2027.
The city implemented the new buffer zone on Dec. 15, 2025, Tarver wrote in an email.
Sitting or lying down on public property in a buffer zone is a misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and possible fines up to $500.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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