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Lakewood staff outline code changes to meet new state permitting timelines under SB 5290
Summary
Planning staff briefed the Lakewood Planning Commission on proposed code amendments to implement Senate Bill 5290, including new completeness determinations, permit decision clocks (65/100/170 days by application type), and required annual performance reporting; staff said the city must produce a March 2025 report covering 2024 activity and may need operational changes to meet timelines.
Planning staff told the Lakewood Planning Commission on Sept. 18 that a package of code amendments is needed to comply with Senate Bill 5290, the state law that imposes new timelines and reporting requirements on local permit review.
At a public hearing, Miss Silva, a planning department staff member, said the amendments would consolidate permit procedures, set explicit completeness determinations and notice rules, and adopt new decision deadlines that take effect Jan. 1, 2025. "If we do not make that written notification it becomes procedurally complete by the 29th day," Miss Silva said, describing the 28-day completeness determination. She noted other statutory deadlines: notice of application 14 days after completeness, and notice of decision issued within 14 days of a local decision, including appeal information.
The staff presentation laid out SB 5290’s decision clocks by application type: Type 1 decisions must be issued within 65 days; Type 2 decisions (for example, shoreline substantial development permits) within 100 days; and Type 3 decisions (examples: conditional use permits heard by the hearing examiner) within 170 days. Miss Silva added that Type 1 and Type 2 decisions are administrative and appealable, while Type 3 decisions are made by the hearing examiner and also appealable.
Miss Silva also described a required annual performance report: the City of Lakewood must file a report in March 2025 covering 2024. She said staff will perform hand calculations for the first report because the current permit system does not produce the needed outputs. "In 2026, if we're not meeting those timelines over 50% or more of the time we must enact additional measures to ensure we get closer to moving that needle," she said.
Commissioners asked several operational questions after the presentation, including whether completeness checklists are public (staff said application forms and checklists are available on the department website), whether the city could create preapproved ADU designs to speed permits (staff said the idea is being discussed), and how engineering-review redundancies and reviewer staffing would be addressed (staff said they rely on third‑party review and are evaluating workflow and reviewer roles). A commissioner asked whether the economic development function remains part of Planning and Public Works; staff said it does.
The commission opened a public hearing on the SB 5290 amendments and staff reported there were no written or in-person comments; the hearing was closed.
Next steps: staff said they will return for deliberation in October and seek a Planning Commission recommendation to City Council (study session Oct. 14; Council public hearing Oct. 21; target Council action Nov. 4) to have amendments in effect by Jan. 1, 2025.
