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Council delays vote on permit‑fee waiver policy after debate over mayoral authority
Summary
The North Bend City Council debated a proposed ordinance that would allow the mayor or the mayor’s designee to waive certain building permit fees (up to $10,000 per incident) in limited circumstances and ultimately postponed consideration to July 15 for further review.
The North Bend City Council debated a proposed ordinance (AB25‑062) that would allow the mayor or the mayor’s designee to reduce or waive certain building permit fees under limited, “extraordinary and compelling” circumstances.
Assistant city staff presented the proposal as a narrowly tailored tool the city could use, for example, to support improvements to city‑owned property (the Snoqualmie Valley Museum was the stated example), provide support to the poor and infirm, or where the community benefit outweighs the fees and tracking the small fee payment would impose a net cost to the city. The ordinance as drafted would permit reductions or waivers of up to $10,000 per incident and listed fee types such as building permit, plan review, inspection, mechanical and plumbing fees.
Council members expressed differing views. Some members said they preferred a case‑by‑case review by council or the Community Economic Development (CED) committee rather than delegating the decision to the mayor or a staff designee. Concerns included transparency, precedent, and the administrative burden of tracking waived fees.
Procedural actions: an attempt to advance or reject the ordinance at the June 3 meeting resulted in several procedural motions. A motion to move AB25‑062 to the June 17 meeting failed; a subsequent motion to postpone consideration to July 15 carried 7‑0. Council therefore did not adopt the ordinance on June 3 and asked staff to return with any revisions or additional direction in mid‑July.
Clarifying points from staff: the ordinance draft allows a waiver only up to $10,000 per incident and would apply only where waiving or reducing the fee would not violate state law. Staff noted legal review would be required if council wanted to change the structure to require council approval for each waiver.
Ending: Council postponed the ordinance to July 15 to allow time to consider whether fee waivers should be allowed only with council approval or remain an administrative tool, and to give staff time to revise the draft based on council direction.
