Kittitas County planning panel backs local rules to implement Senate Bill 5290 on permit timelines

The Kittitas County Planning Commission on Jan. 14 recommended that the Kittitas County Board of Commissioners adopt local regulations to implement Senate Bill 5290, a state law setting maximum review times for land-use and building permits and creating financial consequences if jurisdictions fail to meet those timelines.

The change is aimed at shortening processing times and increasing accountability for both applicants and county staff. Long range planner Jeremy Johnson, who led the presentation, told the panel that the law establishes different maximum clocks for types of applications and a set of “stop clock” rules that pause the deadline when the county requests additional information.

"The whole point of this bill was to make project timelines more efficient and more predictable," Jeremy Johnson, long range planner, said during the meeting. He described three processing tiers discussed in the bill: an administrative category with a maximum 65-day processing period for simple, no-notice applications; an intermediate category (in the staff presentation described as reduced to 90 days from a prior definition); and a nonadministrative category requiring public notice and hearings — such as preliminary plats — with a 170-day maximum once an application is deemed complete.

Why it matters: The new schedule will change how the county handles intake, completeness review and follow-up, and it creates a choice for jurisdictions about how to demonstrate compliance. If the county misses timelines often enough, the law either requires financial refunds of application fees or the adoption of specified operational practices intended to shorten review times.

What staff proposed: Chad Bea, Community Building and Services director (as stated in the meeting), said staff favor the bill option that ties financial accountability to the county’s fee handling. Under the approach staff recommended, the county would accept 80% of an application fee at submission and retain the remaining 20% until the decision is issued; if the county fails a timeline by specified thresholds it would remit part or all of the withheld amount. Johnson explained the example used in the presentation: for a nonadministrative 170-day permit, if a final decision is not issued by the 203rd day (about 20 percent over the 170-day limit), the presentation said 10% of the application would be refunded; if the decision exceeds that threshold further, the presentation said 20% would be refunded.

Implementation, tools and exceptions: Commissioners asked how the county would track time and ensure accountability. Staff said Kittitas County uses SmartGov (permitting software) and plans to increase its use — including dashboards and inspector iPad workflows — to log the “stop clock” events and report performance. Jeremy Johnson said the county already has tools to mark a file as incomplete and to stop/restart the statutory clock when the county requests more information.

The draft local code discussed also lists exception categories that the county proposes to exclude from the statutory clocks because they routinely require extended, multi-year processing: development agreements; planned unit developments (PUDs); master-planned resorts; development code amendments; and comprehensive plan amendments. Staff said the bill allows jurisdictions to identify these categories by local ordinance.

Reporting and thresholds: Johnson noted that while jurisdictions must adopt regulations to comply, the Department of Commerce reporting requirement in SB 5290 applies only to jurisdictions above a high population-density threshold; Kittitas County staff said the county does not meet that density threshold and therefore will not be required to submit the state’s annual performance report, though the county will keep internal reports and make some information available to the public.

Board recommendation and next steps: After discussion, the commission voted to recommend approval of the draft SB 5290 implementing regulations to the Kittitas County Board of Commissioners. The motion passed without recorded opposition.

Staff flagged remaining work items: finalizing code section numbering in the draft, preparing a concise summary for the commissioners, increasing SmartGov training and configuration to produce the statutory reports, and drafting written notice language the county will send applicants that memorializes stop-clock requests and deadlines.

Votes at a glance - Motion: "Recommend approval of SB 5290 implementing changes to the county code to the Kittitas County Board of Commissioners." Mover: Chair (motion made from the floor); Second: not specified on the record. Outcome: Passed (voice vote; no opposition recorded). Note: This was a recommendation to the county commissioners; final adoption requires Board action.

Ending: The commission’s recommendation sends the draft rules to the county commissioners for review. The Board of Commissioners will consider the staff-recommended approach (the fee-retention/refund option) or an alternate compliance package of operational changes before adopting a final ordinance.