Lake Stevens planning staff outline 2024 work and hold hearing on interim ordinance setting new permit review timelines

City Planning Director Wright and Principal Planner David Levitan presented the Planning and Community Development 2024 annual report to the City Council on Feb. 11 and held a required public hearing on interim ordinance 11-92, staff said. The interim ordinance, adopted initially on Dec. 10 and effective Dec. 18, temporarily adjusts permit-review timelines to comply with changes required by Senate Bill 5290.

Why it matters: the interim ordinance shortens statutorily prescribed review windows for permit applications; staff said the city must comply and will pursue permanent code language through the planning commission and subsequent council hearings.

Levitan told the council the interim ordinance established new internal deadlines that took effect Jan. 1 under the state legislation: Type 1 administrative reviews must be completed within 65 days; Type 2 reviews (public notice, no hearing) within 100 days; and Type 3–5 quasi-judicial reviews within 170 days. He noted a few special-case deviations remain in local code for subdivisions and that the interim ordinance expires one year after adoption or when permanent code language is in place.

“Interim ordinances are a little bit different,” Levitan said, describing the December adoption and the staff requirement to hold a public hearing within 60 days. He said the ordinance is exempt from SEPA and that staff is working on permanent process-code updates to Chapters 14 and 16A/16B of the municipal code; those updates will include planning-commission review and later council consideration.

Council members asked whether the department can meet the compressed deadlines. Levitan and a department colleague said staff has made process improvements and that meeting the new timelines will require a more proactive approach and stricter limits on reviews. "I don't have any concerns," a staff member said, adding the city will need to be proactive because reviewers are now limited to essentially two reviews before a decision is required.

The presentation also reviewed broader planning accomplishments in 2024: the comprehensive plan update completed last year; several code amendments including an international building code update and a solicitor's license ordinance that staff said will be revised after the FBI requested additional language; staff turnover and promotions (the packet noted that Dave Levitan accepted the role of principal planner and that long-term employee Melissa Place moved on to a county position); tracking of land-use and building permits (land-use steady, building permits down); short-term rental licensing results (staff reported licensed short-term rental groups had produced no complaints over the past year); and economic-development outreach for the 90 First Avenue corridor design template.

The public hearing required by state law was opened for oral testimony; no members of the public offered remarks in person or online, and the council closed the hearing. Levitan said no council action was required that evening beyond providing the hearing and receiving testimony; staff will return later in 2025 with permanent code language, the planning commission’s recommendation and any required hearings.

The council did not take formal action on the interim ordinance at the Feb. 11 meeting because the ordinance had already been adopted on an interim basis; the hearing satisfied the later-notice requirement. Staff said it expects to bring forward permanent code updates before the interim ordinance expires.