On Friday, August 2nd, Pierce County hosted the third quarter Development Officials Forum. County Staff discussed their front-loaded single family home review endeavor and presented on their permitting system (PALS+). They also shared with jurisdictions the remodel relocation efficiencies gained by strategically laying out permitting staff at the Annex building by providing a tour of the offices after the meeting. Other jurisdictional updates regarding permitting numbers, staffing concerns and more can be found below:
Bonney Lake:
- Many building inspectors set to retire
- A lot of Multifamily (MF) units are in the queue
- White River School District raised their impact fee to $3700 (Bonney Lake is split with White River School District and Bonney Lake-Sumner School District)
- Added another permit tech
Sumner:
- A lot of industrial/commercial development occurring
- MF on main street with 108 units; many Certificate of Occupancies coming soon
- Many areas around town to increase density
Gig Harbor:
- 300 homes receiving final plat soon
- Commercial projects going in at the North end of town
- Struggling with staff retirements and staff leaving to the private sector
Tacoma:
- Commercial development has been quiet
- A lot of incomplete ADU applications are coming in (residents wanting to convert a shed into an ADU, etc.)
- Residential is still busy; 100 Single Family (SF) permits applied for at this point in time through the year which matches last year
- Trying to hire a plan reviewer and struggling to retain building inspectors
- E-Permits are live yet many end up expiring because inspections don’t occur
Lakewood
- August 7th is when the planning commission will review the reorganizing of the city’s Title 18A code; this item will go to full council in October
- Western State Hospital to submit a new hospital plan
- Many short plats are being applied for for infill
- Moving to PALS+ permitting program
- Looking for people building w/o permits on weekend (in 2 hours, staff usually catches 11+ people) as many people are building illegal adult family homes
Puyallup
- Commercial activity is up a little
- Not so much land is available for easy SF
- 300 assisted living beds complete (new)
- Smaller MF projects for 55+ community are also going up
- Same problem as Lakewood with illegal adult family homes
- New permit technician is working out well
Pierce County
- Looking to beef up staffing numbers to respond to the economy
- MF is on the rise, like other places
- 5 schools are under construction; 4 more are coming
- Multi-care facilities are also being built
- Out-routing inspections has proved to be 10-15% more effective