Lakewood outlines progress and gaps meeting stateSB 5290 permitting timelines

Angie Selvig Silva, assistant director for Lakewood planning and public works, briefed the City Council on Dec. 8 on how the city is implementing timelines associated with Senate Bill 5290 and related local code changes.

Silva said the state statute (SB 5290) governs land-use and environmental review timelines and that Lakewood has set corresponding local goals: 65 calendar days for permits without public notice, 100 days for notice-only (type 2) permits and 170 days for permits requiring a hearing (type 3). Silva told the council the first required performance report was due in March 2024 and that annual reporting will continue, with the next report due March 2026.

Why it matters: the state timelines aim to reduce duplication and increase predictability for applicants and neighbors. Silva said the citys new permit system, funded by a state grant, consolidates previously separate filings (for example, traffic mitigation fees and environmental reviews) into single workflows, enables multilingual applicant portals, and provides better performance monitoring.

On performance, Silva presented 2024 baseline metrics showing mixed results. New single-family permit applications averaged about 99 days across review cycles, above the 65-day type-1 goal; site-development/engineering averages were about 81 days against a 65-day goal; some planning reviews (design review, conditional use permits) remain well above targets. Silva said internal first-round review targets are 30 days for many application types and that most initial reviews are completed before that time, but overall decision timelines can lengthen because the statute excludes applicant response time and because some projects require multiple permit types and external agency review.

Council members pressed staff on public visibility for type-1 and type-2 permits and on tools the public can use to track applications. Silva said the permit portal includes a public search and a subscription feature that notifies users about activity on a specific property; the portal also supports translation into multiple languages. She offered to publish a how-to guide explaining the search, subscription features and the distinction between notification and formal party-of-record status.

Staff next steps and constraints: Silva told council staff have produced more than 40 standard operating procedures, eight portal tutorials and 32 customer brochures and are continuing to refine reviewer checklists and workflows. She cautioned that staffing levels, the quality of initial submittals, and external review partners (e.g., utility districts, fire districts) remain key drivers of total project time, and that the city must balance speed with required code checks and public comment processes.

The council did not take formal action; Silva said staff will continue tracking performance and return with further analysis to address bottlenecks and better meet the statutory timelines.