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City reports permit-process improvements and better timelines; more work planned
Summary
City planning staff reported progress on a 12-point audit: a permit coordinator role was filled, completeness-review rules and communications templates were implemented, and permit timelines improved from 2024 to 2025. Staff outlined next steps including SOP updates, collaboration meetings, and tracking performance metrics.
Issaquah — Community Planning and Development staff reported March 9 on progress implementing recommendations from a consultant audit intended to streamline permitting and meet SB5290 timelines.
Permit Coordinator Aronia McClean said several audit recommendations are complete, including a finalized completeness review process, next-step communication letters, and the addition of a permit coordinator role filled in September. "We implemented next step communication letters, peer review identification earlier in the process, and a permit coordinator position," McClean said. Staff also implemented pass-through credit card fees for the shared permit portal as of February 2026.
Staff presented 2024–25 permit metrics showing an improvement in closed land-use permits meeting deadlines (2025: 48 closed, seven past deadline versus 2024 higher past-deadline rates) and reductions in average days to approval for most permit types. Council members pressed for finer-grained metrics — tenant-improvement tracking, reasons for outliers such as landscaping permits, and the costs of peer review. Building Official James Gray and planning managers described ongoing efforts to balance safety standards and process efficiency.
Next steps include finalizing SOPs, creating joint collaboration meetings with Public Works and Parks, exploring peer-review efficiencies, and a phased list of improvements to be completed through 2027.
