Community Development director briefs council on 2024 workload, code updates and housing targets

Community Development Director Mike Matlock told the Tumwater City Council on April 1 that his department completed major permitting work in 2024 while advancing a multi-year comprehensive plan and habitat-conservation effort.

Matlock said long-range planning comprises roughly one-third of the department while development-review functions (building, inspections, plan review) make up the remaining two-thirds. He told council the department issued a high volume of permits last year and managed a substantial inspection workload while moving forward on a 10‑year comprehensive plan update that will accommodate about 21,000 additional people (roughly 9,000 housing units) over the next 20 years.

Why this matters: The comprehensive plan and development regulations guide where housing, commercial development and public infrastructure may be built. Matlock said the plan update touches housing, transportation, climate and habitat conservation and will shape growth for the next two decades.

Key points and metrics

- Permit activity: Matlock reported permit counts rising over time: 477 (2004), 868 (about 10 years later), 1,598 in 2019 and 1,557 in the most recent year; the department performs both small and large permit reviews. - Building activity and valuation: Staff processed 87 single‑family permits with an assessed valuation just under $21,000,000; eight commercial permits with a similar commercial valuation (~$21.5 million); and about 540 multifamily units in permit review in the last year. The department also conducted roughly 8,000 building and planning inspections. - Grants and funding: The department received approximately $700,000 in state and federal grants for Brownfields environmental work on brewery and washtop properties, $620,000 in state grants for the comprehensive-plan update, and $410,000 for Bush Prairie Habitat Conservation Plan (phase 4). Matlock said the city secured a $2,000,000 grant for the Prairieland purchase to support a Habitat Conservation Plan. - Staffing: Matlock said hiring planners has been difficult; the department is now fully staffed with recent hires including Sam Hunter (associate planner in permitting) and another associate planner in long-range planning. He said one prior recruitment took a year and required three recruitments. - Code updates and priorities: Staff led a substantial overhaul of the city’s permitting process to comply with state requirements intended to streamline permit review and help lower housing costs. The department paused tree‑implementing regulations after state wildfire-interface building-code changes created conflicts; Matlock said Tumwater alerted associations and pushed for fixes.

Consent calendar and council action

The council approved the consent calendar by voice vote after a motion from Council Member Jefferson and a second from Council Member Dalhoff. The approved consent items listed during the meeting included:

- Approval of meeting minutes (Jan. 28 council meeting; March 11 work session; March 18 council meeting) - Payment vouchers - Resolution R2025-007 (Commute Trip Reduction Plan update) - Contract approval for a 12-year multifamily tax exemption for Yorkshire Apartments - Schedule 74 design agreement with PSC for Old Highway 99 and 70 Ninth Avenue - Construction contract with Northwest Cascadia Cascade Inc. for Linwood Avenue sidewalk and Second Avenue project (request for additional contract funds) - Acceptance of work for tenant improvements for city hall office space at South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) where water and sustainability staff reside - Acceptance of work for the preliminary Palermo security fencing replacement project

The consent calendar passed on an aye voice vote; no roll-call tally was provided in the transcript.

Council questions and next steps

Council members asked how the 21,000-person planning number applies to the city (Matlock confirmed it refers to new residents in the city and equates to about 9,000 housing units). Members asked for lists of implementation issues that staff encounters when rules meet real-world applications; Matlock said the department compiles those items and brings periodic "housekeeping amendments" to the planning commission and council.

Matlock also updated council on progress with the Bush Prairie Habitat Conservation Plan and said meetings with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had moved the plan toward a more implementable path. He listed department goals for the biennium that include implementing a new permit-processing system, completing the comprehensive plan update, adopting a food-security plan, drafting tree and vegetation protections, and advancing the Bush Prairie HCP environmental review.

Quotes

"It was a pretty much a complete overhaul," Matlock said of the permitting process changes in response to new state requirements. "This is a big lift."

Ending

Council members thanked Matlock for the presentation and for department staff work. Matlock noted he will retire after many years of service; council members praised his leadership and institutional knowledge.