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Community Development director reviews 2024 permits, ADU program and local projects
Summary
Community Development Director Curtis Lequist provided the department’s 2024 activity report: two short plats and six boundary line adjustments processed, ADU preapproved-plan program launched Oct. 1 with two permits issued, building permit activity down about 14.5%, and multiple commercial and housing projects completed or underway.
Curtis Lequist, the city’s Community Development Director, presented the department’s 2024 annual report to the East Wenatchee City Council on Feb. 4, summarizing planning and building activity and notable projects.
Lequist said the planning division processed two short plats (subdivisions of nine lots or fewer, both two-lot), six boundary-line adjustments, one shoreline permit tied to the pedestrian overpass, one conditional-use permit, one home-occupation permit and seven pre-application conferences. He described pre-application conferences as a way for applicants and utilities to identify site or utility constraints early in the process.
Lequist said the city launched an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) preapproved-plan program on Oct. 1, 2024, and amended the ADU code to comply with state law; the program has generated interest, and two ADU permits had been issued since the Oct. 1 start. The city is drafting a climate resiliency element required by the 2023 legislature, with a workshop planned in about a month and anticipated final adoption in June.
Building permit volumes and revenues declined about 14.5% from the prior year, Lequist reported. The department issued seven single-family permits and one duplex permit in 2024. Notable commercial and institutional projects completed or under construction include a car wash on Pace Drive (operational under a conditional certificate of occupancy), Douglas PUD’s hydrogen fueling station permit (facility permit issued; fueling will follow completion of a separate Baker Flats component), an expansion by Douglas County Transportation/Land Services, CVCH’s behavioral health clinic (certificate of occupancy issued), and a 36-unit apartment complex (final building inspection completed late in the year).
During questions, Lequist said the city’s police department already has the city’s hydrogen-fueled vehicle and the vehicle had been outfitted for emergency service use but noted locally produced hydrogen fuel was not yet available. Lequist and council members discussed staffing (the department recently hired a new associate planner in November) and the department’s continuing code-enforcement workload handled by planning staff in the absence of a dedicated code-enforcement officer.
Lequist said the department will return with more detailed code updates as part of the 2026 code update process and staff will continue to monitor interest in the ADU program.
