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City reports surge in permit activity; 140-unit Vista complex largest recent issuance
Summary
Spokane permit staff told the Urban Experience Committee on April 14 that permit applications and valuations rose sharply in March, with a major 140-unit apartment project issued and thousands of housing units in the pipeline.
Tammy Palmquist, Permit report presenter, told the Spokane Urban Experience Committee that permit activity rebounded in March, with nearly $60,000,000 in projects issued so far this month and valuations for the year already at roughly $100,000,000.
The jump represented about a $42,000,000 increase from the previous month, Palmquist said. She highlighted the Vista apartment complex at Beacon Hill, a 140-unit multifamily project, as the largest permit issuance recently. "The Vista's apartment complex went out. So those permits, that was 140 new units," Palmquist said.
Permit applications were up about 42% over the prior month, Palmquist said. She told the committee that short-term rental applications had increased after the city mailed annual compliance reminders, and that plan-review workload remained heavy: staff showed about 1,290 units in plan review and an additional 346 units approved but not yet issued as of the first week of April.
Palmquist described staffing changes in the permit office: the department hired two new permit technicians, though one moved back to a previous department; she said the permit tech role is commonly an entry pathway into other city roles. "We hired 2 new permit techs. 1 was then stolen back to their previous department," she said, noting turnover reflects that many hires are overqualified and use the position as a stepping stone.
The department is working with a vendor, Davenport Group, to implement a new permitting system and has spent spring-break weeks reviewing case packets for each permit and license type. Palmquist said the fire department had finished most of its packet reviews and that tax/licensing, historic preservation and code enforcement were participating in the effort.
On inspections and annual trends, Palmquist said March was the department's best March in five years and predicted the city could again exceed 1,000 residential unit permits for the year based on projects currently in review.
Committee members asked whether newly permitted duplexes were infill and whether townhome-style single-family permits were likely to translate to homeownership. Palmquist said duplexes and many townhomes were infill and that townhomes typically plat as separate lots that can be sold fee simple, explaining that the new permitting system will allow the department to add questions (for example, whether a unit is intended for purchase) to gather data on ownership versus rental.
The committee heard additional detail on accessory dwelling units (ADUs): Palmquist said ADUs have a separate permit category and offered to provide district-by-district breakdowns of permit volume and a list of projects in plan review.
Ending
Palmquist closed by noting several other large nonresidential certificates of occupancy recently issued and by answering follow-up questions from council members about specific district projects. She said staff will provide follow-up data on ADUs, ownership-versus-rental intent, and the new permitting system's data fields.
