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Duvall staff brief council on new state permit-processing deadlines, potential fee refunds
Summary
Planning staff told the Duvall council the state'level permit-processing changes that took effect this year shorten and standardize review clocks and create refund exposure if the city misses statutory deadlines; staff said code updates, legal review and interdepartmental checks are underway.
Duvall planning staff told the city council on March 4 that new state statutes now set specific calendar-day review deadlines for most land-use entitlement applications and create a narrow window for collecting full permit fees.
The city's senior planner, Blake Flores, said the statutes (referred to in the presentation as "52 90" and "12 93") implement changes under the Growth Management Act and change the review standard from a single 120-day limit to three time bands: 65 days for simple reviews, 100 days for intermediate applications, and 170 days for complex site-plan reviews. Flores said the clock begins the day the city deems an application complete and that the statutes require counting calendar days rather than business days.
Why it matters: the new rules increase pressure on staff and other departments to meet review timelines and also affect how the city collects fees. Flores said one approach under discussion would be to collect 80% of fee revenue up front and withhold the remainder until the city issues a decision within the statutory timeframe; if the city misses the deadline it may be required to refund some or all of the remainder.
Planning director Laura Thomas explained implementation details and operational challenges during the council's discussion. She noted the city has 28 days to determine whether an application is complete and that the city's prior practice of "pulling" (stopping the clock for 14 days while staff requests additional materials) will no longer be allowed. Thomas said other time-consuming processes'including the 14-day notice-of-application and a separate 21-day State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) comment period and the hearing examiner's time to issue a decision'will consume portions of the statutory clock.
Council members asked how the new timelines would interact with large mixed-use projects and whether applicants might agree to extensions. Thomas said larger mixed-use projects with hundreds of units will be the hardest to process within the new windows and that, although applicants can agree to extend review timelines, there is limited incentive for them to do so. Flores and Thomas said jurisdictions around the state are still implementing the statutes and that the city's attorney review is wrapping up; they plan an internal review with the development review committee (public works, building, fire) before bringing a draft ordinance to the planning commission and council.
On staffing and finance, Thomas said the city is still assessing impacts but anticipated pressure across planning, public works and building review, and recommended evaluating whether it is more cost-effective to refund portions of fees than to add staff immediately.
The council asked staff to return with proposed code updates, fee-handling options and an implementation plan. Flores and Thomas said staff will present a draft ordinance and recommended fee approach for council consideration after attorney review and internal departmental checks.
Ending: Staff said they will continue outreach to applicants for stronger pre-application work and will monitor early cases under the new rules to decide whether additional resources or legislative advocacy will be necessary.
