DCD reports permit backlog shrinking, new hires and work on critical areas and shoreline updates

Mark Tompkins, interim director for the Department of Community Development, updated the San Juan County Council on staffing, permitting, enforcement and larger code projects at the April 21 meeting.

Tompkins said the county has open recruitments for the DCD director (search run by Strategic Government Resources) and a fire marshal position; both postings were imminent or in process at the time of the meeting. He said the department was working with a third-party contractor, DEA, on planning reviews and with other consultants for technical work.

On permitting, Tompkins reported 230 building permit applications received in the first quarter of 2025; the department listed about 30 of those as incomplete and estimated that roughly 20–25 of the incompletes are likely to be canceled or refiled. Tompkins said permits issued through March 31 numbered 192 and that, after clearing incompletes, the department estimates about 200 valid permits were received in the quarter. He said staff is improving its use of a "stop clock" to separate county review time from applicant response time and that average processing times for categories such as solar mechanical permits have fallen (Tompkins cited an average of roughly 13 days for solar-mechanical reviews during the first quarter).

Tompkins said code enforcement has filled a second enforcement officer position and that the new officer, Becky, has compiled and prioritized outstanding complaints, updated enforcement procedures, updated notice letters and coordinated with the prosecuting attorney's office. He credited staff for clearing older permit inventories and noted that Darcy Nielsen and Chris Jones have led cleanup efforts on pending land-use files.

On larger projects, Tompkins said the county contracted Facet Northwest to lead work on the county's critical areas ordinance with Colin Maycock as lead; the project will compare the county's existing best-available-science references to newer material, perform a gap analysis and produce recommended ordinance language. Tompkins said the project will include coordinated amendments and a specific shoreline master program (SMP) update so the county does not end up with conflicting critical-area requirements for shoreline and uplands.

Tompkins also described a Department of Ecology grant that funded an updated user guide for shoreline property owners. He said postcards to shoreline property owners were planned to notify them of public engagement sessions in early May on the draft guide.

Tompkins urged continued public engagement and said staff would return as work progresses on comp-plan elements, code reorganizations and docketed requests; he noted the department has 15 unaddressed docket requests from prior years that need prioritization.