An architect was impressed by the attention he received from Snohomish County planners this year when he sought permits for a shelter he designed at a local gun range.
After Eric Gedney arrived at an initial meeting for the relatively simple project, he remembered being “essentially swarmed w
ith everybody I needed.” Within less than an hour, the Woodinville-based architect was well on his way to getting permits for an outdoor open shelter at the Kenmore Shooting Range.
“I appreciated that they’re starting to run government like a business,” Gedney said. “We’ve all experienced bureaucracy and it’s tough for people who are trying to make a living to put up with that.”
The architect wasn’t alone in his praise for the county’s renewed focus on satisfying permit customers. A top manager for a local homebuilder had similarly positive things to say about seeking approval for a 55-home subdivision. A Snohomish County PUD engineer said his dealings with county planners make him confident that a complex geothermal energy project will move forward this fall.
That kind of feedback suggests that some recent efforts by Snohomish County to streamline permitting have paid off.
The county has dubbed the attempt to turn things around “project catalyst.”
County Executive Aaron Reardon announced the initiative during his annual state of the county address. Press releases followed in March and another this month.
“This effort is all about being competitive and attracting job growth,” Reardon said in this month’s release. “The quicker companies have permits in hand, the sooner they can put people back to work building projects or expanding their business.”
The approach involved targeted overtime, extra staffing and analysis of the hurdles complex projects would have to clear, including reviews by biologists and engineers.
It’s supported by fees charged to developers that are separate from the county’s operating budget.
The county reports whittling the number of projects waiting to be reviewed to 31 this past week from 89 in December. That’s brought in $161,000 in permit revenue so far this year, compared to about $39,000 spent.
“I think we’re doing some great things in the department,” said Clay White, who took over in September as county planning director. “We’re actually accomplishing a lot this year.”
The County Council authorized spending more than $200,000 to jump start the program.
“It was Clay’s proposal and the council strongly supported it,” County Council Chairman Dave Somers said. “He’s done a really good job of cleaning up the backlog of cases that hadn’t been moving.”
Go back to early 2010 and the outlook was very different. Some builders pointed with frustration to projects awaiting permits, held up for months at a stretch.
The county said big layoffs in the planning department were to blame for slow turnaround times. Severe cuts shrunk planning staff to just over 100 from 245.
Since February, and without the benefit of much extra staff, the county reports the effort has cut by two-thirds queue times for building projects and halved the time it takes county staff to review permit applications.
The changes have encouraged Bob Vick, senior vice president with Sundquist Homes of Lynnwood. His company was able to get permits for its Talasera development in Bothell two weeks earlier than expected. That should allow work to start this summer.
“It sounds like I’m beating the county’s drum here, but giving them their due, they did a good job,” Vick said.
The efficiency is especially helpful at a time when so many homebuilders have gone bust.
“If we can add 55 lots of inventory to the market and start building houses on it right away, and those buyers go out and buy appliances to start their household, that’s what economic development is all about,” he said.
An engineer with Snohomish County PUD said the county’s help is crucial to readying a project to explore geothermal energy in the Cascade foothills. The work will be unlike anything the county has ever seen.
It involves sticking a 20-inch-wide telescoping well nearly a mile into the earth, said Eric Schneider, a principal engineer with the utility’s generation division.
There’s a razor-thin time frame when that work can take place. It can’t start until after the critical nesting season for the marbled murrelet, a threatened bird species. That gives crews only weeks to finish before snows cut off access to the remote area.
Further complicating the situation is the project’s location near the North Fork Skykomish River, triggering special shoreline regulations that planners must consider.
If they get the permits this summer, work can begin in September, Schneider said. If not, it might be impossible for another year.
“What I’ve benefited from is the county’s willingness to have this initial meeting so we could discuss exactly which permits we needed,” Schneider said.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
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